Senior BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, set to launch the election campaign for the party from Chhattisgarh’s Bastar, said on Monday that the people of the state will extend “their full blessings to his party” in the upcoming general elections.

The BJP has fielded Mahesh Kashyap as its candidate from the Bastar constituency, while the Congress has nominated its senior tribal leader and former minister Kawasi Lakhma. Lakhma has been a given a ticket in place of the party’s sitting MP and Congress state unit president Deepak Baij.

Elections for the 11 parliamentary constituencies of Chhattisgarh will be held in three phases on April 19, 26 and May 7. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.

In the previous two Lok Sabha elections, the BJP gained an upper hand over the Congress in Chhattisgarh, where it maintains a stronghold. It won 10 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, relegating the Congress to just one seat. Similarly, in the 2019 elections, the BJP won nine seats, while the Congress managed to secure two seats. In last year’s Chhattisgarh assembly elections, the BJP regained power from the Congress.

Both parties have announced their candidates for all 11 Lok Sabha seats. Notable BJP candidates include Brijmohan Agarwal from Raipur and Mahesh Kashyap from Bastar. The party has also nominated three women candidates for the Lok Sabha election.

The Congress has nominated former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel from Rajnandgaon, Tamradhwaj Sahu from Mahasamund, and Rajendra Sahu from Durg.

(With ANI input)