RaipurUpset about not receiving a ticket for the November elections, Chintamani Maharaj, the incumbent Congress MLA from the Samri constituency, officially joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday. This move marked the third instance of a ruling Congress legislator rebelling after being denied the opportunity to run in the upcoming elections. During his return to the BJP, Chintamani Maharaj was welcomed back into the party in the presence of Om Mathur, the party’s election in-charge, and Pawan Sai, the state organizational secretary.Upon his re-entry into the BJP, Mathur extended a warm welcome to Chintamani Maharaj, invoking Sant Gahira Guruji as a witness and assuring him of the utmost respect within the party. Mathur emphasized that Maharaj’s arrival had shifted the political landscape and that he had fulfilled his promise to travel from Delhi to Surguja to personally welcome Maharaj into the BJP.Chintamani Maharaj had previously won the Lundra seat on a Congress ticket in 2013, marking his first term as an MLA. In the 2018 assembly elections, he contested from Samri on the Congress ticket, securing a victory by defeating Siddharth Paikra of the BJP by a margin of 21,923 votes.The decision for Maharaj to join the BJP was significantly influenced by interactions with BJP MLA Brijmohan Agrawal and former state BJP chief Vishnu Deo Sai at a religious event in Samri, which took place the week before. Following these discussions, Maharaj had hinted to reporters that he might switch to the BJP if they nominated him from Ambikapur, which historically served as the seat of Deputy Chief Minister T S Singhdeo.While the BJP was open to offering him a ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Maharaj was insistent on securing a ticket for the assembly elections in Ambikapur. However, the BJP ultimately selected Rajesh Agrawal, a newcomer, as their candidate for Ambikapur.Notably, Chintamani Maharaj is the son of the late Sant Rameshwar Gahira Guru, a prominent social worker and religious leader who held significant influence in northern Chhattisgarh, particularly among tribal communities. In addition to Maharaj, two other Congress MLAs, Anoop Nag from Antagarh and Kismat Lal Nand from Saraipali, have rebelled after being denied tickets. Nag was expelled from the party and chose to run as an independent candidate in Antagarh, while Nand joined the Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and is contesting from Saraipali with the party’s ticket.
