Shyama Charan faces the young BJP nominee, Chandrashekhar Sahu, who is trying to retain the seat which he had wrested from Pawan Diwan of the Congress last time. Diwan had won in 1996 and 1991 against Sahu after being kept out by V C Shukla in 1989 (Shukla was in JD then). V C Shukla has also won in 1984 and was thus keen to contest from here this time.

The sprawling constituency is spread over three districts of Raipur, Mahasamund and Dhamtari. It has eight assembly segments: Rajimand and Bindranawagarhin Raipur district; Saraipalli, Basna, Khallari and Mahasamund in Mahasamund; and Kurad and Dhamtari in Dhamtari. Of these five were won by the Congress and three by the BJP in the November 1998 assembly elections.

That Congress president Sonia Gandhi addressed an election meeting here on September 18 indicates the significance the party is attaching to this constituency.

S C Shukla has for the first time added the prefix `Pandit' to his name in party posters and banners, in a clear allusion to his father, Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla, who was the state's first Chief Minister.

BJP supporters feel the family name won't work and Sahu, a two-term MLA in his forties, will spring a surprise. A prominent BJP activist, Chandrahas Chandrakar, claims Sahu had already completed his first round of campaigning and was into the second round while Shukla had not been able to cover even fifty per cent of the constituency due to his frail health. ``He is not physically sound; he cannot even hear properly. How can weelect a person who will not be able to even listen to our grievances?'' he asks. Chandrakar claims several supporters of Diwan, who had been denied a ticket this time by the Congress, were quietly working for Sahu.

Apart from raising national issues like Kargil, the BJP is attacking the Digvijay Singh Government on the issue of hike in electricity tariff. ``Our electricity rates are cheaper than the BJP-ruled Maharashtra where the power tariff was hiked twice during the government's four-and-a-half-year tenure,'' retorts Lalit Lunia, a Shukla supporter and an office-bearer of the Mahasamund District Congress Committee. The tariff issue would not influence the voters in this rural constituency as the Digvijay Singh Government has given several power concessions to rural people, he argues.

S.C Shukla is also said to have done commendable work in the field of irrigation during his tenure and farmers in this constituency are benefiting from the two dams built during his tenure.

Party spokesman Idris Bhaipoints out: ``We won five assembly seats out of eight last November.'' He concedes that Diwan and his supporters were not working for them but denies that they were helping the BJP.

MLA Agni Chandrakar underlines Shukla's stature and clean image. He has been representing the Rajim assembly constituency for years despite the fact that he hardly campaigns there because of his preoccupation elsewhere, he adds.The Congress is also taking heart from the fact that the Bahujan Samaj Party, which usually takes away at least 30,000-35,000 votes every time, has not fielded any candidate from here this time. The BSP votes, always considered as anti-BJP, would surely go to Shukla, Chandrakar asserts.

Eventually, it is likely to be a close contest. Shukla is no lightweight and has a slight edge over Sahu as of now. But there are various factors at work in favour of Sahu and whosoever wins will do so with a narrow margin.