In Bastar, BJP, Cong campaigns flag vikas as theme song – rail line to speciality hospitals

From the demand for railway connectivity to the pitch for better access to government schemes and health care — such development issues seem to be dominating the campaign for the Lok Sabha election in Chhattisgarh’s tribal-dominated Bastar constituency, which has always been in the news for the Maoist presence.

The planks of the leading contestants in Bastar, which goes to the polls in the first phase on April 19, are centred on vikas (development).

The Congress has fielded six-time MLA and former minister Kawasi Lakhma, 70, from the seat, while BJP candidate Mahesh Kashyap, 49, is making his poll debut.

Talking to The Indian Express, Kashyap says his “top priorities” are a railway line till Jagdalpur, greenlighting the construction of a four-lane road till Jagdalpur and the construction of super-speciality hospitals.

“There are no good hospitals in Bastar and people go to Visakhapatnam or Raipur for treatment. Indravati river is our lifeline but water is getting diverted towards the jungle in Odisha. I plan to ensure there is no water-crisis in future,” he says.

Lakhma told The Indian Express: “There is no railway line connecting Bastar with Raipur. There should be two – one connecting Chhattisgarh with seven districts which this Lok Sabha seat covers, and another connecting it with Bhadrachalam and Warangal in neighbouring Telangana. I want Bastar to be connected with all major cities in India.”

Several civil society activists in the area also speak of the development challenges that the region faces.

Basant Lal Jha, who has been associated with the cause of education in Bastar for years and has founded two colleges and helped build four schools in Bastar, speaks of the “quality of teachers”. He adds that quality education is