Video Producer: Fabeha Syed
Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam
Chhattisgarh is going to see its first three-sided contest which is a deviance from the usual face-off between the Congress and the BJP that the state has always seen. Former chief minister Ajit Jogi quit the Congress to create a new party, Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC). Months ahead of the 2018 Assembly polls, JCC entered into an alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Communist Party of India (CPI). According to recent surveys, this alliance will affect the vote share of the Congress in the state.
But the Leader of Opposition in Chhattisgarh Assembly election and prominent Congress face TS Singh Deo feels otherwise. In an exclusive interview with The Quint, Singh Deo talks about Ajit Jogi and why the party won’t enter into an alliance with him.
Will the Jogi-Mayawati alliance work?
When he [Ajit Jogi] was the chief minister in 2003, he failed to win the majority vote for the Congress. Even as Jogi’s impact on the Congress has reduced, the position of the party has improved in tribal areas. It’s true that Jogi is known for his influence over scheduled caste, scheduled tribes and Satnami Samaj voters. Ajit Jogi is doing politics with a ‘Tribal Certificate’ but everyone knows that his father was a Satnami.
What if Mayawati had tied up with the Congress?
Mayawati would have benefited if she had formed an alliance with the Congress. Now when she makes an alliance elsewhere, she won’t harm either the BJP or the Congress. Jogi ji used to sabotage the Congress and help the BJP while he was still in the [Congress] party. Now his chances of destroying the party have reduced to less than 25 percent ever since he left the Congress. The votes he used to divert to the BJP will now be collected in his name.
What about the allegations made by PM Modi & Amit Shah?
It has become quite evident that Amit Shah and Modi ji don’t refrain from spreading lies. He stands on the land where Mahendra Karma (Congress leader) was martyred and says that the Congress helps Naxals. What could be a greater evidence than the Jheeram valley attack that the BJP and Naxals are in fact complicit. More than 30 people were martyred. The top leadership of the Congress was eliminated. Nand Kumar Patel, Mahendra Karma, Vidya Charan Shukla. Amit Shah claims to have controlled the Naxal terror. But when Chhattisgarh was formed, the area had an army force of 5,000 including soldiers and policemen. Today there are almost 50,000 deployed.
How will the Congress battle Naxals in Chhattisgarh?
The Congress party will first try to win the confidence of youth, and we are very clear about that. The way young men have been arrested and thrown in prison for years. And then they are released, saying there is no evidence against them. This needs to stop.
Has the Congress done enough to win the state?
To improve its performance, the Congress has taken many important decisions and has implemented some new political tactics in Chhattisgarh. To ensure this, Congress has tried to bring the youth and women of Chhattisgarh together at the booth level. We have increased social media connectivity. We have launched a platform like ‘Shakti’ (a mobile app). We have given responsibilities at block levels. If everything goes as planned, we are likely to win all 90 seats. But this doesn’t happen in real life that’s why we are trying to work hard in areas where we lack strength.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)