Ajit Jogi, the former Chief Minister who is fighting a court case to prove that he belongs to Scheduled Tribe, has charged up political atmosphere in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, announcing that he has planned to contest from a constituency where Chief Minister Raman Singh chooses to be the BJP nominee.
The wheelchair-bound Jogi has a chequered past of keeping up his promises as in 2013 assembly polls too he had announced to take on Raman Singh but finally he had junked his idea.
Ajit Jogi was Congress face in the State elections in 2003 as well as in 2008 and 2013, but in 2017 he dumped the party which made him the first Chief Minister of the newly-formed State and floated his own outfit with an intention to bag a few seats in 90-member assembly poll which is expected to be held in November this year.
Jogi thinks that if he walks away anything in excess of five seats and result produces a hung assembly then he could play the role of kingmaker but he must know that this election is also to be a referendum on his brand of politics.
If Jogi's Chhattisgarh's Janta Congress fails to make decisive impact in a State which has track record of bipolar contests between the BJP and the Congress, this could potentially bring the curtain down on political career of bureaucrat-turned 72-year-old politician who was a blue-eyed boy of 10 Janpath for a long period of time.
Analysts say that Jogi has to prove in 2018 assembly polls that he is still politically relevant in Chhattisgarh and in a bid to draw public attention away from the ongoing Congress-BJP rivalry, he has announced to fight against Raman Singh to convince voters that they can't write off Ajit Jogi.
Some senior leaders both from the Congress and the BJP, admit in private talks that Jogi could manage up to six percent votes in assembly polls and if it happens it could make a huge impact on formation of the next government in the mineral-rich State.