The assembly polls in Chhattisgarh may not be as one-sided as predicted by many pre-election surveys, conducted by different news channels. The Congress is unlikely to be a pushover. The grand old party in fact seems to have an upper hand in major cities and towns of the state. The urban middle class – particularly the one who is not entitled to 35 kg rice at Rs 2 per kg every month – and government employees have found nothing great in Raman Singh’s (Bharatiya Janata Party) 10 year rule. Apparently, they have been bitten the most by galloping prices of rations, sugar and lentils.

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This constituency claims Singh has failed to hike pay scales of government employees in proportion to the price rise. Complaints also point out Singh’s failure of providing irrigation water to every part of the state. It also accuses Singh of building a new state capital (near Raipur) at the cost of other cities in the state. The constituency also claims that public distribution of rations have made people lethargic, adding to the difficulty of finding labour for farms and other jobs.

The poor in the cities and the villagers, however, are unlikely to desert Singh whose public distribution of rice, wheat, sugar and lentils at nominal prices has proved to be a cushion for them against inflation. For Congress, this constituency may be the proverbial hard nut to crack.

Though the party has promised free 35 kg rice and free electricity to pumps up to 5 horse power in its election manifesto, it is to be seen whether and how these promises will fare at the hustings.

(A senior Delhi-based journalist, Narendra Kaushik is covering the Chhattisgarh assembly elections for Governance Now as part of a London School of Economics project on grassroots democracy).