Chhattisgarh Chief Ministerial candidates in contention from the major political parties:
Ajit Jogi: The First CM of Chhattisgarh
Ajit Jogi was born on 29 April, 1946 and is a member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India. He represents the Mahasamund constituency of Chattisgarh and is a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) political party. He was the first Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh between 2000 and 2003. Despite having suffered a severe spinal cord injury while campaigning during the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, he is presently the only elected Congress Member of Parliament from Chhattisgarh (Mahasamund).
His early years
He did his Mechanical Engineering from Maulana Azad College of Technology, Bhopal, and won the University Gold Medal in 1968. After having worked briefly as a lecturer at the Govt. Engineering College, Raipur, he took the nationwide examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and was selected for the Indian Police Service (IPS, 1968-70) and Indian Administrative Service (IAS, 1970-86). He holds the all-India record for the longest serving District Magistrate & Collector i.e. 13 years, having served as collector of Sidhi, Shahdol, Raipur and Indore.
Entry into politics
At the behest of the then Prime Minister Late Mr Rajiv Gandhi, he resigned to take the plunge into politics and become Member of the Rajya Sabha where he served two terms (1986-92, 92-98). In 1998, he won the Raigarh seat after defeating the BJP state president and entered the Lok Sabha for the first time. He was the Congress Party`s Chief Spokesperson and Whip- positions he held till he was elected Chief Minister of the newly created state of Chhattisgarh on November 1, 2000.
Party leader
He has served and headed several Parliamentary Committees, the SC, ST and OBC Department of the AICC and been President of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee, apart from being on the Board of such prestigious educational institutions as the Council for IITs, IIM (Lucknow), EDCIL, St Stephen`s College & Hospital, Christian Medical Colleges (Vellore and Ludhiana), Lawrence Schools (Lovedale and Sanawar) etc. Jogi also holds the record for having won both the Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha elections with the highest margin in the state of Chhattisgarh.
Responsibilities shouldered
After entering the political arena Ajit Jogi held several positions out of which here are some details—
In 1986-87 Member, All India Congress Committee (AICC) on welfare of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
1986-1998 Member, Rajya Sabha for 2 terms
1997 Member of AICC. Member of committees on Rural and Urban Development, Public Accounts Committee, Panel of Vice-Chairpersons, Rajya Sabha
1998 Elected to 12th Lok Sabha
1998-2000 Spokesman, AICC, Congress Parliamentary Party, Working President, Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee
2000-2003 Chief minister of Chattisgarh
2004- Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha)
2004- Member, Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Home Affairs
2004- Member, Congress Working Committee (CWC)
2006 Co-chairman, AICC Central Election Committee for West Bengal VS election
2006- Chairman, ST Department, AICC
Recent stand in politics
Ajit Jogi has emerged as an indisputable leader of the Congress party in Chhattisgarh. His indominitable spirit has given confidence to many. He is a dynamic man. No matter his physical disabilities have been a hindrance, but still he has proved his mettle time and again. He met with an accident in 2004 while campaigning for the Parliamentary elections but still emerged as a true warrior. There are many pending cases against him including the fake caste certificate case or his son`s alleged involvement in Jaggi murder case. All these issues kept him away from political arenas for sometime but he is back again with a punch.
His style is unique. His campaigns are crowd pullers and it is difficult to remember the fact that this was the same man who was phsically disabled.
His influence can be clearly seen in the party ticket distribution for Assembly elections. After the narrow escape he is back with new strength and confidence, which is enough to give a tough competetion to all his competitors including Raman Singh.
Can say that the wheels of his chair are really moving fast!
Dr. Raman Singh: Smiling face of BJP
`A person is best known by his smile`. Though this is a self acclaimed statement but it stands very true for Dr. Raman Singh, the incumbent CM. Born on October 15, 1952, in the family of a farmer; Singh was destined to be the first elected CM of the newly born State of Chhattisgarh. Shri Vighnaharan Singh Thakur, a famous advocate of Kawardha, is his father while his mothers name is Smt. Sudha Singh. Smt. Veena Singh, his wife has always been with him through ups and downs of life.
BJP`s Dark horse
Fifty-one year-old Singh, an Ayurveda doctor, emerged victorious in the race for Chief Ministership in a State where factionalism prevented BJP from going public with its CM candidate in the Assembly elections of 2003. However, Singh, state BJP president, has all along been in contention for Chief Ministership even though he was perceived a distant third compared to former Union Minister Dilip Singh Judeo, the only BJP leader in Chhattisgarh with a State-wide appeal and Union Minister of State for Mines Ramesh Bais.
But circumstances turned in favour of Singh when cash-on-camera scam involving Judeo took place a few weeks before the December 1 polling in 2003, ruling out his chances for the top post. Finally Singh had to sacrifice his ministerial berth at the Centre and was assigned the difficult task of leading BJP in the newly born state and face the challenges set by his predecessor Ajit Jogi.
Raman Singh is no stranger to either electoral battles or in the corridors of power as he was first elected to MP Assembly (before the creation of Chhattisgarh) in 1990 and again in 1998. In 1999, he made his debut in Lok Sabha from Rajnandgaon (which is also his this time Assembly seat), defeating veteran Congress leader Motilal Vohra and was appointed the Minister of State for Commerce and Industries in the Vajpayee Government, a charge he had held till he quit the ministry to become Chhattisgarh BJP chief.
The polite leader
What apparently tilted the scale in favour of Singh for Chief Ministership is his non-controversial image and a quiet way of doing things. Famous for his organizational capabilities, Dr. Raman Sigh was sent to Chhattisgarh as the state party chief in view of the state elections in the year 2003. Resigning from the union council of ministers, Dr. Singh led BJP`s preparations for Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh with success like never before. On December 1, 2003, he led the party to a huge victory in the first ever elections held in the newly formed state of Chhattisgarh. Dr. Raman Singh has been ranked by India Today in the year 2005 as the number one Chief Minister in India.
Under his leadership Chhattisgarh stood first in the country in the implementation of the 20-point programme on the development of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes (2006-2007) as per the assessment of the Statistics and Programme Implementation Ministry, Govt. of India. The United Nations has given its highest award to Chhattisgarh in recognition of its human development model. In addition to it, Singh has received tremendous applause all over the country for the excellent fiscal management during his regime.
Chhattisgarh has also continued to be the leading Indian state in the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana for the last three years and the Union Ministry of Urban Development has presented the CRISIL runners-up award to Chhattisgarh for urban modernization.
Future challenges
Raman Singh, doctor-turned-politician, till date has been rewarded for his quiet and efficient work- both as a party organiser as well as an administrator. But what remains to be seen is whether his efforts will be awarded in the upcoming polls.
Compiled by: Devika Chhibber
