Chhattisgarh: Baghel, Agrawal Vie for Power in Raipur By-Poll
Deccan ChronicleRaipur: Stakes are high for former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and veteran leader and eight-time MLA Brij Mohan Agrawal in the November 13 Assembly elections in Raipur seat in Chhattisgarh with both the leaders striving hard to make a comeback to the Centre stage of their respective parties, Congress and BJP. While Mr Baghel, whose stock in the party seems to have depleted following the debacle of Congress in Chhattisgarh in the November 2023 Assembly polls, is out to re-establish his supremacy in state party by winning the by-elections, Mr Agrawal is facing the test of his political legacy in the by-poll in his home constituency. Mr Baghel has been able to get ticket for his loyalist and youth Congress leader Akash Sharma in the by-elections to the Assembly seat and unite all the senior Congress leaders in the party including former deputy chief minister T S Singh Deo to launch a campaign blitzkrieg for the party candidate in the by-polls. Sources said that Mr Baghel’s camp felt that Mr Baij, being a tribal leader, saw an opportunity to project him as a chief ministerial prospect in the 2028 Assembly polls following defeat of the party under Mr Baghel’s leadership in the last Assembly elections in the state.