Cong pits Vajpayee’s niece against CM in Chhattisgarh

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 23

A high-profile electoral battle is building up in Chhattisgarh where the Congress today fielded the niece of late BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee against Chief Minister Raman Singh.

Karuna Shukla, 68, will challenge the sitting MLA from Rajnandgaon and the powerful three-term CM who is leading the ruling BJP in elections to retain the state for a straight fourth term.

Shukla, a former national vice-president of the BJP, quit the saffron fold for the Congress on February 28, 2014, and had unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary poll from the Bilaspur constituency. She lost to BJP’s Lakhan Lal Sahu by more than 1.76 lakh votes.

Pitting Shukla against Raman Singh is being seen in political circles as Congress’ attempt to challenge the BJP lieutenant with the party’s late patriarch Vajpayee’s legacy. The Congress feels political symbolism in the move is important.

The BJP on the other hand is unfazed by the development. Party leaders in Chhattisgarh point to Shukla’s bitter parting with the BJP in 2014 and say she at best represents the Vajpayee lineage, not his political legacy.

Raman Singh’s hold in Rajnandgaon is strong and his son Abhishek Singh is the sitting MP from the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha constituency. Shukla’s name was announced in the second list of six candidates the Congress today announced for the first phase of Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh on November 12.

The challenger

• Late BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s niece Karuna Shukla quit the BJP on February 28, 2014, to join the Congress
• She had unsuccessfully contested parliamentary poll from the Bilaspur constituency with loss margin being 1.76 lakh votes
• This time, she will take on three-term Chief Minister Raman Singh in the Rajnandgaon LS constitency