By IANS,
Raipur : Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh Wednesday said that the state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was committed to restoring peace in the sprawling Maoist-affected Bastar region.
“The BJP government is committed to restoring peace in Bastar and also bringing in development in the region, which has been hit by poverty and Maoist violence for years,” he said while addressing an election rally in Bacheli town of Dantewada district, which forms a part of the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, where by-polls will be held May 8.
The BJP has won the seat on the last four occasions.
The by-poll for the Scheduled Tribes reserved seat was necessitated by the death of veteran BJP tribal leader and MP Baliram Kashyap in March.
The BJP has fielded Kashyap’s son Dinesh, while Congress nominee Kawasi Lakhma is the legislator from Konta assembly seat, one of the eight assembly segments that form the Bastar parliamentary constituency. A total of eight candidates are in fray.