Ajit Jogi not to campaign for himself or wife

Raipur, Nov 6 (IANS) Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi will not address a single public meeting in his assembly segment or in his wife's constituency, an aide said here Thursday.

Jogi is contesting the November assembly polls from Marwahi while his wife Renu Jogi is locked in a straight battle with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to retain Kota seat.

'Jogi will be covering at least 80 seats out of state's total 90 with a chopper sent by the party with a focus to hit segments that witnessed close finish in the last assembly polls,' an aide to the wheelchair-bound Jogi told IANS Thursday.

Jogi, a tribal, will concentrate on a majority of state's 29 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes and 10 seats for the Scheduled Castes. In these places he will address more than one public meetings.

Jogi is contesting from Marwahi for the third time. He won with huge victory margins over BJP candidates in a 2001 by-poll and then again in November 2003.

His spouse launched her political career by winning the Congress stronghold Kota seat in a by-poll in late 2006 after resigning from government job as a doctor.

The state goes to polls in two phases - Nov 14 and 20.

In the first phase, 39 segments will go to polls while remaining 51 seats, including Marwahi and Kota, will see elections in the second and final phase.