In Chhattisgarh’s Saja constituency, BJP candidate Ishwar Sahu, a labourer by profession and a riot victim, defeated Congress sitting MLA and Minister Ravindra Choubey who had won the seat seven times in the past, by 5,196 votes. While Ishwar Sahu garnered 1,01,789 votes, the Congress candidate came in the second spot with 96,593 votes.
Barring the 2013 assembly elections when he lost it to a BJP candidate, Choubey had been winning the Saja constituency seat since 1985. In Bhupesh Baghel’s cabinet, he was serving as parliamentary affairs minister of Chhattisgarh. From 2009 to 2013, he was the leader of the opposition in the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly.
On the other hand, Ishwar Sahu is not a career ‘politician’, he is a labourer and riot victim, whose son was killed by a Muslim mob, who was fielded by BJP against Congress’ veteran leader on this seat. During campaigning, Ishwar Sahu repeatedly launched a scathing attack on Congress’ sitting MLA and said that as a public representative, Ravindra Choubey did not fulfil his duty.
He had asserted that those who are giving protection to the accused murderers who were part of the Jihadi frenzy in Biranpur of Saja assembly constituency under appeasement politics and putting innocent youth in jail cannot understand our pain.
Minor cycle collision turned into a communal incident
Notably, Ishwar Sahu’s son Bhuvaneshvar Sahu was killed in a communal clash in Biranpur village in April, this year. The incident unfolded on 8th April when a Hindu youth was attacked and killed with a sword by a Muslim mob in the Bemetara district of Chhattisgarh. The clashes broke out after a minor dispute took place between two schoolchildren. About a dozen persons sustained injuries including police personnel in the subsequent clashes between Hindu and Muslim communities.
The incident reportedly took place in the Bemetara district’s Biranpur village of the Saja assembly constituency. A bicycle collision occurred between two school students who belonged to two different communities. As a result, the Muslim student hit the Hindu student. Soon others present on the spot joined the fight and a Muslim teenager hit the hand of the Hindu student with a glass bottle. In this attack, the Hindu student’s hand was fractured, and this triggered communal violence.
Hearing about the clash, more people arrived, the matter took a heated turn and then escalated into full-blown communal violence. During this, some sword-wielding Muslims broke into the house of one Ishwar Sahu and started to hit them with swords. They dragged Ishar Sahu’s 22-year-old son Bhuneshwar Sahu out of the house, brought to a Muslim neighbourhood, and killed him with swords.
However, the Muslim community denied the charges and defended it claiming that he had gone there to attack Muslims and he was killed in a retaliatory attack.
As violence continued for several his body was lying at the murder spot for a long time. When the police team arrived in Biranpur village to settle the dispute after learning about the incident, the Muslim mob attacked them also, and pelted stones at the police team. Three police personnel including sub-inspector BR Thakur were injured in this attack. Several vehicles including a police vehicle were also set on fire by a mob and then tried to set some houses on fire.
