Bhupesh Baghel and Vijay Baghel
In the politics of Maharashtra, the nephew has outweighed the uncle. In Chhattisgarh too, BJP has placed a bet on nephew Vijay Baghel against uncle Bhupesh Baghel, while former CM Ajit Jogi’s son Amit Jogi has also made a move. In such a situation, it is written on the wall of Patan assembly constituency, ‘This time the nephew is heavier than the uncle’. This slogan is creating a triangular contest in Patan assembly seat, because Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel seems to be the uncle of BJP candidate Vijay Baghel. In such a situation, it remains to be seen whether the uncle will be able to defeat the nephew amidst the political chessboard laid by BJP on Patan seat.
Patan assembly seat of Durg district is one of the most high profile seats of Chhattisgarh, on which everyone’s eyes are fixed. BJP MP Vijay Baghel is in the fray against CM Bhupesh Baghel, while Ajit Jogi’s son Amit Jogi has also contested. This seat is considered to be a close contest between Congress and BJP, that is, the political fight between uncle Bhupesh Baghel and nephew Vijay Baghel has been reduced, but with the entry of Amit Jogi, it is being considered an interesting contest.
Bhupesh will score a hat-trick of victory from Patan seat!
This is not the first time that an election contest is taking place between uncle and nephew in Patan assembly seat, but they have tried their luck before also. Bhupesh Baghel has won from here five times. He has been MLA for the last two times and now he is out to score a hat-trick of victories. At the same time, Durg MP and BJP candidate Vijay Baghel is trying to register victory in 2023 like in 2008. Like 15 years ago, Vijay Baghel is trying to become MLA by politically defeating Bhupesh Baghel.
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In the 2008 assembly elections, BJP had fielded him from Patan assembly seat and he faced Congress candidate Bhupesh Baghel. In this election, Vijay Baghel had defeated Bhupesh Baghel. In this way, Vijay Baghel reached the Assembly for the first time by defeating his uncle Bhupesh Baghel in the elections. In the 2013 elections, BJP once again expressed confidence in Vijay, but this time Bhupesh Baghel settled the score by defeating him on Patan seat.
In the 2018 elections, BJP fielded Motilal Sahu in place of Vijay Baghel, but he could not win. When Congress returned to power in 2018, Bhupesh Baghel became the Chief Minister. At the same time, Vijay Baghel became MP on BJP ticket in 2019 by winning from Durg Lok Sabha seat by more than three lakh votes and now again uncle and nephew are face to face. But, with the entry of Ajit Jogi’s son Amit Jogi into the electoral fray, the contest on Patan seat has become triangular.
Who may gain or lose?
Amit Jogi has left his traditional seats like Marwahi and Kota and contested the elections from Patan, the reason behind which is believed to be political meaning and strategy. Amit Jogi’s entry from Patan has increased the challenge of cornering Congress and CM Baghel. It is believed that due to loss of tribal votes and division of Congress votes, BJP may get political benefit while Congress may have to bear the loss. This is the reason why Congress has been alleging since the beginning that Amit Jogi and his party are working as the B-team of BJP.
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Bhupesh Baghel has contested the Patan seat six times, out of which he has won five times. Bhupesh Baghel had lost only once in the year 2008 to BJP’s Vijay Baghel. In this view, BJP has once again fielded Vijay Baghel against Bhupesh Baghel so that the Chief Minister can be cornered in his own house. Both uncle and nephew belong to the Kurmi community and belong to the Kurmi OBC class, which has a large population in this area.
Patan seat equation
Patan assembly seat is dominated by OBC voters, here the number of Sahu and Kurmi voters is highest. People of both these castes play an important role in Patan seat. The number of voters from Satnami community and general category is less in this seat. The total voters of Patan Assembly are 2 lakh 10 thousand 840. A large number of people here are involved in agriculture and farming, due to which both Congress and BJP are playing bets on the issue of farmers. In such a situation, it remains to be seen whether uncle Bhupesh Baghel again defeats nephew Vijay Baghel or like in 2008, the nephew defeats him and becomes MLA.
