Chhattisgarh: In TS Singh Deo's Fort Sarguja, Congress Faces Challenge To Repeat 2018 Success

In the previous Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, the Congress had swept the Sarguja region. The Sarguja region comprises 6 districts - Sarguja, Korea, Ramanujganj-Balrampur, Surajpur, Jashpur, and Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur. It was the only area in the entire state where every seat went to the Congress. It is believed that the people of this region were unilaterally supporting T S Singh Deo, the prominent leader and scion of the royal family, to make him the Chief Minister. However, T S Singh Deo couldn't become the Chief Minister. Sensing the anger among people, Congress made Deo Deputy Chief Minister months ahead of the polls.

However, this time around, the Congress seems to be facing challenges in Sarguja. There's growing discontent among the public due to the refusal of tickets to 4 out of 14 legislators and the lack of performance by these legislators. Some sections of the public are openly discussing changing both the representatives and the government.

The sense of dissatisfaction is also clear to T S Singh Deo. He likened his situation to that of cricket players, emphasizing that hitting a century every time is challenging. T S Singh Deo continually boasts about his government's achievements regarding farmers. The entire Congress government is claiming victory solely on farmer-centric issues. However, paddy farmers in Sarguja revealed a starkly different opinion than what the government claims.

It's evident that the advantage of this dissatisfaction will be to the BJP. Dilip Singh Judeo, a BJP leader from this region, previously conducted the 'homecoming operation,' facilitating the return of converted Hindus to their faith. Using this issue, Ranvijay Singh Judeo, a BJP leader from the same family, is claiming victory on 8 out of 14 seats in the region this time.

After touring the entire Sarguja region, it seems that the Congress might not have an easy path in Sarguja this time.

Seats won by BJP and Congress in Sarguja region so far:

Year 2003: BJP - 10; Congress - 04

2008: BJP - 09; Congress - 05

2013: BJP - 07; Congress - 07

2018: BJP - 0; Congress - 14

In Chhattisgarh, there are a total of 90 Assembly seats, out of which 39 are reserved. Among these, 29 are Scheduled Tribe (ST) seats. 32% of the state's total population belongs to the Scheduled Tribe category.