Raipur: The nominations for the Khairagarh Assembly by-poll closed on Thursday. BJP fielded former MLA and senior OBC leader Komal Jaghel for the April 12th bypoll while the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) announced Narendra Soni as its candidate. The ruling party named OBC woman Yoshoda Verma, the party’s Khairagarh block committee chief.
With the ruling Congress, opposition BJP and regional JCCJ in the fray, the electoral battle appears to be a triangular contest.
The Khairagarh seat, which falls in Rajnandgaon district, has been lying vacant following the demise of sitting JCC (J) MLA Devvrat Singh, scion of the erstwhile royal family of Khairagarh, in November last year.
The ruling party banks on the Bhupesh government’s performance and hopes to get an edge. However, it is too early to speculate who would take charge of the region as the saffron party holds a strong footprint there. BJP nominee, Jangel had earlier won the seat twice in the bypoll in 2007 and the state Assembly election in 2008 but lost the 2018 Assembly election by a margin of 870 votes.