Mahasamund Lok Sabha constituency

There were 11 Chandu Lal Sahu contesting from Mahasamund constituency in 2014 Lok Sabha election. Eventually, BJP's Chandu Lal Sahu (in pic) defeated Ajit Jogi by just 133 votes. (Photo: LSTV)

Mahasamund is one of 11 Lok Sabha constituencies in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh and will cast vote in the second phase of the election this year - on April 18.

Mahasamund Lok Sabha constituency comprises of eight assembly segments - Saraipali (SC), Basna, Khallari, Mahasamund, Rajim, Bindranawagarh (ST), Kurud and Dhamtari.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha election here, former state CM Ajit Jogi - still with Congress at the time - suffered a wafer-thin defeat by 133 votes to BJP's Chandu Lal Sahu. Interestingly, the candidates placed second, third and fourth were also Chandu Lal Sahu but different from the BJP candidate. They were all Independents and in all, there were 11 candidates with this name in Mahasamund constituency itself with BJP alleging that it was done by Jogi himself to trick electors to vote away from BJP in a state of confusion.

Nonetheless, the defeat for Jogi was quite a heartbreak for him. The voter turnout was 74.61 per cent.

In 2009, BJP's Chandu Lal Sahu had defeated Motilal Sahu of Congress by a much larger margin of 51,475 votes. The voter turnout was 56.69 per cent.

The Mahasamund Lok Sabha constituency has over 15 lakh electors.