Lormi Constituency – BJP State Chief Vs Congress Newbie

The Lormi assembly constituency situated in Mungeli district of state of Chhattisgarh witnessed a strong fight between the state’s BJP chief Arun Sao and Congress first-timer Thaneshwar Sahu. The constituency has many specialties including its predominance of individuals from OBC community, along with Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The fate of the leaders is in the hands of over 142,700 voters. Traditionally, Congress party holds major stronghold, but the constituency has a distinguished history of electing veteran leaders from various parties. As per the past trend, so far, the scheduled caste and tribal votes predominantly leaned towards Congress. But the Backward Class, Sahu community has traditionally been voting for the BJP since 1993. The candidates of both the communities belongs to Sahu community.

The Lormi Assembly constituency is one such seat where neither the BJP and Congress have been able to win twice. In this constituency, the candidate matters more than the party. For the past three assembly elections in Lormi, in the assembly election, the candidate from the opposition party won the elections. In the 2008 assembly elections, Dharamjeeth Singh of the Congress won, while in 2013, Tokhan Sahu of the BJP emerged victorious and in the 2018 assembly election, Dharamjeeth Singh of the Congress defeated the BJP candidate, says India Today.

The four-time legislator, Dharamjeeth Singh who was initially from Congress in the last election left Congress and joined the regional party, Chhattisgarh Janata Congress (JCC). Singh after winning the seat then joined BJP.

Lormi constituency is surrounded by forest and they are more reliant on agriculture. This is due to the absence of industries and established enterprises. The Lormi falls under the Tiger Reserve Area and thus forest issues always spark debates in these areas. Though there are no drastic changes which has taken place, certain issues like elephant and tiger movements and the hunting of wild animals often make headlines.

In the last election, Dharamjeeth won with a winning margin of 17.9% meanwhile in 2013, Tokhan Sahu won with a win margin of 46061 votes. In 2008, Dharamjeet won with a margin of 4989 votes.