Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh today said that the expulsion of a leader like
JaswantSingh from the BJP is a loss for the party.
"His leaving the party is definitely a loss for us but the next generation will make up for it," Mr Singh told NDTV while campaigning in Bastar for BJP candidate and sitting MP Dinesh Kashyap.
(India Votes 2014: full coverage)
Commenting on the recent controversy over where senior party leader LK Advani should contest from, Mr Singh acknowledged there were problems in the party on ticket distribution and seat allocation but all is well now.
(Read: BJP's letter expelling Jaswant Singh)
"Now Advaniji has filed his nomination from Gandhinagar and the work has formally begun for him. There were no ideological differences; it was all media hype. All senior party leaders are now working towards BJP victory and I hope that we'll beat the estimates," Mr Singh said.
When asked if he had prime ministerial ambitions, Mr Singh said everyone wants him to continue working for Chhattisgarh.
(Deeplysaddened by decision to expel me from BJP: Jaswant Singh)The chief minister's MBA son, Abhishek Singh, is making his electoral debut in this election from Rajnandgaon. The BJP's decision to field 37-year-old Abhishek instead of sitting MP Madhusudan Yadav was mired in controversy. Mr Singh's critics said it was an attempt to by the chief minister to give his son a safe seat.
But Mr Singh rubbished all criticism. "It was Mr Yadav who said he fought from Rajnandgaon last time and we should field Abhishek from there. He also said that all of us should work together to ensure Abhishek's victory."
Naxal-affected Bastar goes to poll on April 10 and hectic campaigning is on in the constituency. Apart from Mr Singh, Aam Aadmi Party leader Prashant Bhushan is also campaigning for his party's candidate and activist Soni Sori. Mr Singh is confident of BJP's victory and says when his party comes to power both at the Centre and in Chhattisgarh, it will be in a better position to deal with the problem of Naxalism.