Newslaundry and The News Minute are on the ground in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada, where Chhavindra Karma is contesting the election on a Congress ticket against BJP’s Chetram Arami. His father Mahendra Karma was among several Congress leaders who were killed by Maoists in 2013.

Dantewada, which is an ST constituency, has seen fewer attacks in recent years. It will go to the polls in the first phase on November 7.

In this conversation, Karma talks about unemployment in the area, his mother Devti Karma’s 2018 poll defeat, and what he thinks of nepotism considering that Dantewada has been a family stronghold.

“My fight is against the BJP symbol, not any candidate… We are confident of maintaining the 72 seats we have now…People already know about the work done by the Congress,” said Chhavindra, adding that the Congress government in the state is focusing on providing employment and connecting villages in the region.  

Watch.

This report has been published as part of the joint NL-TNM Election Fund and is supported by hundreds of readers.Click here to power our ground reports.