Chhattisgarh assembly election: Congress fields Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s niece Karuna Shukla against Raman Singh 

Karuna Shukla sitting near Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s photo.

Bhopal: The Congress has fielded Karuna Shukla against chief minister Raman Singh in the Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon constituency for the assembly election. Shukla is the niece of Atal Bihari Vajpayee – the former prime minister. The state will hold a two-phase election on November 12 and 20.

In the Congress’s second list of candidates for the first phase of the election, released on Sunday, the party declared its candidates for the remaining six constituencies. It earlier declared candidates for 12 seats. The last date for filing of nominations is October 23.

Raman Singh has been the BJP’s tallest leader for a decade and half in the state. He has been the chief minister since December 2003.

Shukla, 68, who was a BJP member of Parliament from Chhattisgarh’s Janjgir Lok Sabha constituency in 2004, quit the party in 2014 after a 32-year-long association with it. By that time, Vajpayee was out of active politics and was in poor health.

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