Raipur, Nov 4 (IANS): The family of Chhattisgarh's first Chief Minister Ajit Jogi is facing the daunting challenge of saving the late leader’s political legacy in the forthcoming Assembly elections.
Three family members of Ajit Jogi are in the electoral fray this time as candidates of the regional party Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC).
Chhattisgarh was formed in 2000 after being carved out of Madhya Pradesh. Ajit Jogi was made the first Chief Minister at that time after the Congress won the state Assembly election.
Later, Ajit Jogi broke ties with the Congress and formed his own political party -- JCC. Now after Jogi's death, his family members want to carry forward his political legacy.
Voting for the 90-member Assembly is scheduled to be held in two phases on November 7 and 17.
Amit Jogi, the son of Ajit Jogi, is contesting on a JCC ticket from Patan Assembly seat, Renu Jogi (the wife of Ajit Jogi) is fighting from Kota Assembly constituency and Richa Jogi (daughter of Ajit Jogi) is standing from Akaltara Assembly constituency.
The political status of the Jogi family has been on the decline after the death of the stalwart politician and the JCC’s vote bank is also shrinking with time.
At present, out of the three members of the Jogi family, only Renu Jogi is an MLA and she is once again contesting from the Kota constituency.
During the last Assembly elections, JCC had won five seats, polling more than 7.5 per cent votes. However after the death of Ajit Jogi and Devvrat Singh when by-elections were held on their seats, the JCC suffered a defeat on both.
Two other JCC MLAs Dharamjit Singh and Pramod Sharma left the party due to which the Kota constituency is now represented by the lone MLA from the family, Renu Jogi.
Political analysts feel that the Jogi family has a sizeable influence among the tribals and due to this the people recognise JCC as the third political front in the state apart from the BJP and the Congress who are engaged in a direct political contest.
However, the forthcoming Assembly elections will be a tough political test which the Jogi family will have to face to send across the message that it still enjoys a strong support base among the masses and is still politically relevant.