Six-time MLA and former Chhattisgarh minister Kawasi Lakhma (70) has said that while he had asked the Congress for a Lok Sabha ticket for his son from Bastar, referring to the seat as a “bride”, the party instead gave the ticket to Lakhma himself. Speaking in Bastar district’s Jagdalpur city on Wednesday, Lakhma said, “I am not fighting elections, it is the Congress party that is fighting elections. (Former chief minister) Bhupesh Baghel got a ticket from Rajnandgaon. Why? Why did I get a ticket? I did not ask for a ticket. I said give it to Deepak Baij – he is our PCC chief and our biggest leader in Chhattisgarh. He has to win 11 seats for us.so if there is a problem, give the ticket to my son. I went to ask for a bride for my son, but instead they gave it to me.” “Baghel and Rahul Gandhi are fighting because our country is being sold. Our Constitution is in danger. If BJP, (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and (Chief Minister) Vishnu Deo Sai's government comes, they will end reservation for tribals and backward communities,” he said. His son, Harish, is a Congress leader and Zilla Panchayat president in Sukma district. Lakhma entered electoral politics in 1998 and has since been undefeated from the Konta Assembly seat. Reacting to his statement, Congress communications wing head in Chhattisgarh, Sushil Anand Shukla, said that only Lakhma could explain the context in which the remarks were made. “He is very happy to get the ticket and wants to fight the elections. Since he is an MLA, he wished to get a ticket for his son or for himself, and the party decided to give him the ticket because they felt he is a senior leader and his chances of winning the election are more,” Shukla said. In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Bastar was one of the two seats won by Deepak Baij of the Congress, defeating the BJP candidate by a margin of 38,982 votes. Before this, the BJP had not lost the Bastar seat since 1998, when Baliram Kashyap won it against Congress leader Mahendra Karma. Asked why Lakma was chosen over Deepak Baij this time, Shukla said, “Baij is now our PCC chief and he is our main campaigner and has the responsibility of getting us victory in all the seats.” The Bastar Lok Sabha constituency comprises eight Assembly seats that are considered Maoists-affected. These are Narayanpur, Kondagaon, Dantewada, Bijapur, Konta, Chitrakot, Jagdalpur, and Bastar. As the region is heavily affected by Left Wing Extremism, it will be the only seat in Chhattisgarh which will go to polls on April 19, in the first phase of the elections.
