A km-long invite for Raman Singh from hometown

A ‘rath’, an integral part of any BJP campaign, had rolled into the streets of Kawardha constituency to collect signatures of voters on a letter that thanks Singh for his “pro-people initiatives” during his nearly five-year tenure and inviting him to contest from his home turf itself.

Such a signature campaign by Singh’s supporters comes at a time when senior Congress leader Ajit Jogi had announced that he was ready to take on the Chief Minister from any constituency in the elections.

Despite Jogi’s repeated challenge, Singh preferred to maintain that it was for the party to decide from where he should contest the polls.

“The idea is to reach out to more than a lakh people and get their signature on a kilometre-long roll,” said Kawardha Municipal Council president Santosh Gupta, who conceived the idea to send out a letter to CM.

“The campaign is getting an overwhelming response from the people. We are also explaining as to how the welfare measures, initiated by Singh, have benefited the masses,” he said, adding that the letter would be handed over to the Chief Minister.

Opposition Congress, however, scoffed at the signature campaign, pointing out that the ruling BJP was trying to make an assessment at the ground level so as to find a ‘safe seat’ for the Chief Minister, particularly in the light of Jogi’s open challenge.

“It’s just a gimmick. Does anyone need a mega invitation to contest from a constituency in his hometown?” asked Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Amir Ali Farista.

He said the BJP was trying to gauge the mood of voters and assess its prospects in Kawardha from where Congress nominee Yogeshwar Raj Singh had won the last two consecutive Assembly polls in 1998 and 2003.