Rajnandgaon: Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh, who is seeking his fourth consecutive term, on Tuesday filed his nomination papers from Rajnandgaon assembly constituency for next month's state polls with his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath by his side.
But what caught the attention of those present was Singh’s gesture of touching the feet of Adityanath, 20 years his junior.
Singh is the fourth longest-serving chief minister who is still in office and is several years ahead of Adityanath in political experience.
The 66-year-old joined the Bharatiya Jan Sangh when he was a student in the early 1970s and became the president of its youth wing in 1976-77, while the UP chief minister has completed a little over one-and-a-half years in office.
On Tuesday, Singh was also accompanied by his wife Veena Singh, party in-charge for Chhattisgarh Anil Jain and several other leaders and party workers as he reached the district collectorate to file his papers.
The two-time MLA from Rajanandgaon constituency, Singh is seeking third consecutive victory from the seat. In 2004, he was an MLA from Dongargaon assembly constituency in Rajnandgaon district. The Congress has fielded Karuna Shukla, niece of former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee against Singh from Rajnandgaon.
Ahead of filing nominations, Singh told reporters, "I have full faith in the strength of party workers and booth-level workers. The BJP has dedicated this election to Atal ji and each party worker has vowed to form the government for the fourth consecutive term with a thumping majority in the state.”
When asked about Shukla contesting against him, Singh said, "They (Congress) did not get any local candidate..."
Tuesday is the last day of filing of nominations for the first phase of state assembly polls to be held on November 12. Candidates from BJP, Congress and other parties also filed their nominations for the 18 seats spread across eight Naxal-affected districts of Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Sukma, Kondagaon, Kanker, Narayanpur and Rajnandgaon, which will go to polls in the first phase.
Chhattisgarh has 90-member Assembly and the polls are being held in two phases on November 12 and 20. The votes will be counted on December 11.
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