57 BJP MLAs from Four States to Visit Assembly Segments in Poll-Bound Chhattisgarh – News18

Fifty-seven Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs from four states arrived in Raipur on Monday to participate in a campaign during which each legislator will be allotted an assembly constituency where they will spend a week and work for the saffron outfit in poll-bound Chhattisgarh.

The BJP, which lost power in Chhattisgarh in 2018, has launched ’Vidhayak Pravas Abhiyan’ (MLA travel campaign) to reach out to voters ahead of the year-end polls.

Ahead of their visit to the constituencies, a training session was held for the visiting MLAs at Kushabhau Thakre Parisar, the BJP’s state headquarters, here.

The visiting MLAs are from Assam and three non-BJP ruled states — Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand. Legislators from West Bengal will reach the state next month as part of the drive.

The election schedule for the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly is yet to be announced.

The party’s regional general secretary (organisation) for Chhattisgarh Ajay Jamwal, state BJP chief Arun Sao and Leader of Opposition in the assembly Narayan Chandel were present for the inaugural session of the training.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the training session, Sao said, “BJP MLAs from four states have reached Chhattisgarh. Each of them will be given an assembly seat where they will spend a week and work.” Sao said state BJP workers and also the visiting MLAs will benefit from the campaign.

”The drive will give the visiting legislators an opportunity to know about the organisational structure, the state’s political scenario and how party workers function in the state. Besides, state BJP workers will benefit from the experience of MLAs from other states and will get to know about the functioning of the party in their respective states,” the BJP leader said.

The visiting MLAs will attend different events during their week-long tour in assembly constituencies, Sao said, adding the lawmakers were being apprised about the political situation in the Congress-ruled state.

According to party sources, as of now 57 MLAs from four states have arrived in Chhattisgarh to take part in the ’Vidhayak Pravas Abhiyan’, while party legislators from West Bengal are scheduled to reach here as part of the drive next month.

The visiting MLAs will interact with local BJP workers and give them tips for the upcoming polls. They will also hold discussions with voters at the ground, they said.

Suggestions and inputs from party MLAs from neighbouring Odisha and Jharkhand will be helpful in preparing for polls in constituencies that fall on the inter-state border, the sources said.

The BJP, which was ousted from power in Chhattisgarh in 2018 after a 15-year rule, last week released its first list of candidates for 21 seats where it faced defeat last time.

There are 16 fresh faces in the list, most of them representatives of district panchayat bodies, while five candidates are former MLAs. The list contains five women.

In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress had won 68 of the total 90 seats, while the BJP finished a distant second with 15. The regional outfit JCC (J) bagged five seats and its ally BSP won 2. After securing victories in bypolls, the ruling Congress currently has 71 members in the assembly.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)