Raipur, Sept 21: The BSP today said it would field candidates in all the 90-seats for the assembly elections in Chhattisgarh scheduled later this year. "BSP will contest on its own all the 90 seats of the state," party state president Dauram Ratnakar said here.
In the last elections, when Chhattisgarh was part of Madhya Pradesh, BSP had contested 49 seats and got elected from three places securing 5.6 per cent votes, he said. "Of the three MLAs, Chhabilal Ratre later joined Congress because of Chief Minister Ajit Jogi," Ratnakar, who represents Pamgarh assembly constituency, said.
Stating that party vice president and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati would formally kick off the election campaign at a rally on September 28 here, the BSP leader said all ticket aspirants have been asked to submit their names with the state office by September 29. Besides the issues of poverty, unemployment and corruption, BSP would concentrate on the social and economic imbalance in the society and backwardness of Dalits during the campaign, Ratnakar added. Bureau Report