Raipur, Nov 12: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi today filed his nomination papers to contest Marwahi (Scheduled Tribes) constituency in the December 1 assembly polls. Jogi submitted four sets of papers in the presence of R P Mandal, who is Bilaspur district`s returning officer.

All-India Congress Committee secretary, in charge of Chhattisgarh affairs, Sarfraz Ahmed, state Congress chief Ramanujlal Yadav and other senior party functionaries accompanied the Chief Minister. Bharatiya Janata Party MP P R Khunte, who quit the party and joined the Congress yesterday, was also present.

After becoming Chhattisgarh`s first Chief Minister in November 2000, Jogi won the bypoll from Marwahi to fulfil the constitutional requirement of becoming an MLA within six months of assuming office. In the 1998 elections held within undivided Madhya Pradesh, Ram Dayal Uike won Marwahi as a candidate of the opposition BJP.

However, after the new state was carved out, Uike resigned from the BJP and vacated his seat so as to enable Jogi to contest. The latter defeated his nearest BJP rival Shyamlal Maravi by more than 50,000 votes.

Bureau Report