By IANS,
Raipur : A total of 254 candidates have filed nomination papers for the 11 Lok Sabha seats from Chhattisgarh with 107 doing so Monday – the last day, election officials said.
Filing of nomination papers had begun March 23 and the scrutiny will take place Tuesday while April 2 would be the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers. The state goes to polls Nov 16.
The main contest will be between the two major national parties- state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress that heads United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre.
Besides the BJP and the Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded candidates on all the 11 seats while the Communist Party of India is contesting on just one seat – Bastar.
Four-time BJP MP Tarachand Sahu, who was expelled from the party in January, has filed papers as independent candidate for his home seat, Durg, while another former BJP MP, P.R.Khunte, has filed papers as a candidate of the regional Chhattisgarh Vikas Party from the Raipur seat.