Raipur: Former chief minister Raman Singh, who is also sitting MLA, has been retained in his assembly constituency of Rajnandgao in the second list of candidates declared by BJP on Monday for the forthcoming assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, scheduled to be held in two phases on November seven and November 17.
The second list of candidates also contained names of two party MPs including one Union minister.
Union minister Renuka Singh has been fielded in Bharatpur-Sonhat (ST) assembly constituency, while party’s Lok Sabha member Gomti Sai has been nominated in the Pathalgaon (ST) seat.
The party has also retained sitting MLAs and former ministers Brij Mohan Agrawal, Ajey Chandrakar and Nankiram Kanwar in their respective seats in the second list.
In the first list, the party had declared candidates in 21 seats.
Party MP Vijay Baghel, who figured in the first list, has been fielded in Patan assembly constituency, currently represented by chief minister Bhupesh Baghel.
With the release of the second list, the party has so far declared candidates in 85 out of total 90 assembly seats in the state.
“The party has fielded 43 new faces so far”, state BJP president Arun Sao said.
The party has fielded 14 women, 10 scheduled castes, 30 scheduled tribes and 31 candidates belonging to other backward classes in these 85 seats.
According to Mr Sao, the party has so far fielded 34 candidates aged less than 50 years.
BJP had suffered a debacle in the 2018 assembly elections in Chhattisgarh by securing only 15 out of 90 seats.
Congress returned to power in the state after a gap of 15 years in the last polls by bagging 68 seats.
