CM Bhupesh Baghel to attend CEC meeting in Delhi tomorrow; state Congress may finalise candidates today

Raipur Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is set to travel to Delhi this evening to participate in the Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting scheduled for tomorrow evening. The meeting is expected to focus on the selection of Congress candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections. As per the itinerary, the Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel will depart from Raipur on a flight at 6 PM on Sunday and is scheduled to arrive in Delhi at 7:45 PM. Meanwhile, a meeting of the Congress election committee is currently underway at the Chief Minister’s residence to finalise the name of candidates for the 90 assembly constituencies. Model code of conduct is likely to be imposed in the state by October 10. The Chhattisgarh Congress State Election Committee meeting commenced at around 12:30 PM on Sunday at the Chief Minister’s residence. The focus of this meeting is to finalize single candidates for all 90 seats in the upcoming elections. This meeting holds significant importance preceding the Central Election Committee meeting in Delhi. Key members, including Congress state in-charge Kumari Selja, state president Deepak Baij, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Deputy CM T S Singhdeo, and other committee members were present in the meeting. So far, more than six meetings of the Congress State Election Committee have taken place. These meetings involved discussions on all submitted applications. Following the scrutiny of applications from over 2,000 applicants, a list of approximately 300 individuals was prepared, including single candidates for 40 seats. Despite this progress, the series of meetings has continued, and currently, single candidates have been finalized for 65 seats. Following the viral circulation of the BJP’s candidate list, the Congress is taking extra precautions. They aim to prevent any leaks of the finalized names and will discuss strategies to maintain complete confidentiality until the Central Election Committee’s meeting. If the list is prematurely released, discussions will also be held on how to manage any instances of indiscipline or opposition that may arise.