In a mouth-watering battle that people across Chhattisgarh will have their eyes on, the BJP has fielded its Lok Sabha member Vijay Baghel against his nephew, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, from the Patan constituency in the upcoming Chhattisgarh Assembly elections.

Speaking to ANI on Friday, the Lok Sabha MP from Durg lashed out at CM Baghel, calling him a “cheater, fraud, and a liar”.

Describing his imminent electoral contest as an “interesting fight” against a “corrupt” chief minister, Vijay Baghel told ANI, “It is going to be interesting to fight against a cheater, fraud, liar and a corrupt chief minister.”

Coming down heavily on his distant nephew, the BJP MP said CM Baghel has betrayed the trust of voters in the Patan Assembly segment.

“The people of Patan reposed their electoral trust in Bhupesh Baghel five times but he betrayed their mandate every time. The people are regretting their decision now amid rising cases of murder, rape, and corruption in the state,” the BJP MP said.

Talking up his chances of upstaging his distant kin in the upcoming Assembly elections, Vijay Baghel thanked party leaders for pitting him against the chief minister in the Patan Assembly segment.

“We will win this election. I’m thankful to the party leaders for giving me the opportunity to fight the chief minister, who also happens to be my distant relative, from Patan. It will be an interesting contest,” the BJP MP added.

The BJP had earlier named the Durg MP, who was with the Congress till 2000, as the party’s in-charge of its manifesto committee, which comprises 30 leaders.

Responding to Vijay Baghel’s allegations against his distant kin, Congress leader Sushil Anand Shukla said the BJP was using the MP for their own benefit, adding that the latter was merely carrying out instructions of his party seniors in hurling abuse at the chief minister.

“The BJP is using Vijay Baghel for their political advantage. The party has instructed him to speak against the chief minister and that’s what he is doing. Vijay Baghel wants to build his election campaign by hurling abuses at CM Baghel. But the people of Patan know that the BJP MP has no hope of upstaging the CM on his home turf. The people know he can’t match the popularity of Bhupesh Baghel. He is just discharging an electoral responsibility. The BJP gave a ticket to a distant relative of the CM just to be in the news,” he said.

“Vijay Baghel has been fielded as a scapegoat. Bhupesh Baghel’s popularity is not hidden from anyone. After entering the fray in the last Assembly elections, Bhupesh Baghel did not campaign in his constituency even once. Yet, the people of Patan gave him a handsome mandate. The CM embodies the honour and self-respect of Patan. His work to raise farmers’ dignity, ensure the safety of women, create employment opportunities for the youth and ensure the well-being of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes makes the heart of every voter of Patan swell with pride. I believe he won’t need to visit Patan to campaign this time as well,” he added.

Meanwhile, moving swiftly as part of its poll preparations, the BJP on Thursday released its first list of candidates for two Hindi heartland states, even as Congress also made a significant change, putting the party’s general secretary Randeep Surjewala in charge of poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.

BJP released its first list of 21 candidates in Chhattisgarh and 39 candidates in Madhya Pradesh, where it is likely to face a tough contest in the Assembly polls later this year.

The list for the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly includes five women candidates — Laxmi Rajwade, Shakuntala Singh Porthe, Sarla Kosaria, Alka Chandrakar, and Geeta Ghasi Sahu.

In Chhattisgarh, 11 of the 21 seats for which candidates were declared are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Scheduled Castes (SC), while the remaining 10 are for candidates from the general category.

Similarly, in Madhya Pradesh, 21 of the 39 seats for which the party has announced its candidate are reserved for ST/SCs.

Five states — Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram — will go to the polls by the end of this year.