Vajpayee’s niece to contest from Congress against Raman Singh

Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's niece, Karuna Shukla, will be contesting from the Congress party against incumbent Chief Minister Raman Singh from Rajnandgaon assembly constituency which goes to polls on November 12.

Rajnandgaon (Chhattisgarh) [India], Oct 23 (ANI): Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s niece, Karuna Shukla, will be contesting from the Congress party against incumbent Chief Minister Raman Singh from Rajnandgaon assembly constituency which goes to polls on November 12.

Clarifying her stance on leaving the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shukla said: “Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani had established the BJP. However, the party has lost its ideologies and culture. Keeping these things in mind, I left the BJP after being associated with the party for 32 years.”

She further attacked the Raman Singh-led Chhattisgarh government, alleging that the Chief Minister has not done anything for the welfare of the people of Rajnandgaon despite being a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from there.

“Dr Raman Singh has served as Chhattisgarh Chief Minister for 15 years and as the MLA of Rajnandgaon for last 10 years. However, he has not done anything for the betterment of people. So, the Congress president has sent me to fight for the people of Rajnandgaon.”

On Monday, the Congress announced a list of six more candidates including Karuna Shukla, for the first phase of the state polls. The party had announced a list of 12 candidates on October 18.

The state assembly elections are scheduled to be held in two phases, November 12 and 20. The results will be announced on December 11. (ANI)

This is published unedited from the ANI feed.