RAIPUR: Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has drawn criticism for selecting candidates linked to recent communal disturbances in Chhattisgarh.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said BJP's decision to field the father of a youth killed in recent Biranpur village riots and another person associated with a separate communal incident is an attempt to raise sensitive issues in the next month’s assembly elections.
"They are trying to raise communal issues. However hard they try, they will not succeed”, he told reporters referring to BJP fielding Ishwar Sahu, whose son was killed in a communal violence in Biranpur village, from Sajja assembly constituency which is at present being represented by senior minister Ravindra Choubey.
Besides, the BJP has also fielded party leader Vijay Sharma who was arrested for his alleged role in communal flare-up that took place in Kawardha/Kabirdham in 2021. Kawardha constituency is being represented by another senior minister Mohammad Akbar, a four-time MLA. Vijay Sharma is at present a zila panchayat member of Kabirdham district.
"Clearly, BJP people are trying to raise the communal issue by giving tickets to these two candidates. It might be their approach because the party had other prominent workers in Sajja and Kawardha. But the choosing of them as candidates who were never in active politics and Sahu being totally non-political person, show that it’s evidently with a political motive. But BJP will never succeed in their attempt to give it a communal colour,” Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said.
He also said that since BJP was left with no new and significant face to contest the assembly elections, the party is banking again upon the old warhorses who lost in previous polls. BJP is an undemocratic party that imposes its decisions on its workers and never considers their suggestions, CM said.
However, BJP leaders maintain that it was an effort to give justice to the victims of violent incidents, which the state government failed to provide. These two names figured in the second list of 64 candidates of BJP is being seen as party playing the ‘Hindutva card’, along with the OBC card.
Waiting and hoping he could get justice for his son’s murder on April 8 in Biranpur region of Bemetaradistrict, Ishwar Sahu said, “My son was killed and the way my Hindu brothers extended support to me during a difficult time and they came to my home, similarly I will visit houses of my Hindu brothers and seek justice for my son.”He said that he would like to thank the BJP for selecting this poor man as a member of their party, it’s a big responsibility and he would serve with all devotion.
Sajja assembly segment is being represented by Congress leader and education minister Ravindra Choubey, a seven-time legislator who had also served as leader of the opposition during the BJP regime. While locals had earlier preferred him, the OBC groups said they waited for Choubey’s one visit to the riot victim’s home, but he never turned up.
Ishwar Sahu’s 22-year-old son, Bhuvneshwar Sahu, was killed when a dispute between two children of different communities, took a violent turn. Two days later, a father-son duo, belonging to the minority community, was also killed leading to tension prevailing for the next few weeks.
The state government offered Sahu financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh and a government job to a member of the family, which he turned down demanding immediate justice. However, he accepted Rs 11 lakh assistance from BJP.
The Sahu community is one of the largest and most influential Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Chhattisgarh, accounting for around 20 % of the state's population.
The ruling Congress is yet to name its candidates, including for Sajja and Kawardha assembly segments which are being represented by senior ministers.
