First list: Congress reposes faith in its old gaurd
Congress chose the first day of 'Navratri' on Sunday to release its first lists of party candidates for the assembly polls in Chhattisgarh (30 of 90), Madhya Pradesh (144 of 230) and Telangana (55 of 119).
While the Congress high command has been projecting OBC politics and caste survey as election topics this season, the party state units and the AICC poll point persons mostly stuck to the traditional yardsticks in picking candidates, based on winnability, social demography, unity considerations besides the traditional accommodation of entrenched leaders' family members and loyalists while throwing in women and youth representation also in the mix.
Chattisgarh: Seven MLAs are out in the first list while CM Bhupesh Baghel and his 12 ministers have padded up again to retain (barring one who moved to a new seat) their seats with Baghel contesting from Patan, Deputy CM TS Singh Deo from Ambikapur, senior minister Tamradhwaj Sahu from Durg Rural and speaker Charan Das Mahant from Sakti.
Girish Devnagan has been fielded against BJP's ex-CM Raman Singh. A dropped MLA Devti Karma, wife of slain party stalwart Mahendra Karma, has been compensated with a ticket for their son Chandra Mahendra Karma from their Dantewada (ST) seat.
The list accounts for the tribal-dominated 20 constituencies that go to the polls on November 7 in the first phase.
Understandably, 14 candidates from the ST community figure in the list while 3 SCs and 4 women make it, leaving rest to the OBCs and general castes.
Madhya Pradesh: Sixty-nine Congress MLAs got re-nomination while four, including heavyweight ex-speaker NP Prajapati, were dropped. However, tribal leader Kantilal Bhuria got the compensation of his son fighting from father's seat from
