Today in Politics: Rahul Gandhi in Chhattisgarh and Bastar; Congress meeting to finalise candidates

Just five days away from the first phase of polling, parties are hitting the ground running. On Saturday, Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will first head to Bastar in Chhattisgarh to campaign for party candidate Kawasi Lakhma.

In Bastar, there has been a preference for the BJP during Lok Sabha polls, while Assembly elections have seen tighter contests. The BJP held on to the seat between 1998 and 2019. The Congress’s Deepak Baij won it last time.

This time, by fielding Lakhma, a six-time MLA who now represents the Konta Assembly seat, the Congress hopes to retain Bastar, which was among the two seats in Chhattisgarh the party won in 2019. This will also be a test for the Congress after the shock loss in the Assembly elections last November.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Lakhma said: “The BJP thinks it can get votes by using a car and a speaker but I am entering the hearts of people. We have worked for all communities. I come from a humble background and have worked my way up, hence people do not call me neta (leader), I am popular as ‘dadi (brother)’.”

Rahul will then go to Maharashtra to address a public meeting at Sakoli town, which falls under the Bhandara Gondia constituency.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the contest in Bhandara-Gondia constituency was between the BJP’s Sunil Mendhe and the then undivided NCP’s Nana Panchbudhe. Mendhe swept the elections polling 52% of the votes, while Panchbudhe polled 36% of the votes.

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole had won the Bhandara-Gondia seat in 2014 on a BJP ticket, defeating senior NCP leader Praful Patel. After Patole resigned and joined the Congress, he was fielded by the party from the Nagpur seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Maharashtra — alongside Tamil