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Raipur, Nov 01: Jogi era of Congress which started on 1st of November 2000 with the Congress spokesperson Ajit Jogi becoming the Chief Minister of the new state of Chhattisgarh, eventually ended on 1st November 2018 as his wife and Kota Legislator Dr Renu Jogi quit the party following being denied the party ticket for the November 2018 Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly elections here on Thursday.
After a quiet wait for more than an year, Dr Renu Jogi not only announced her resignation from the Congress by writing an emotion letter to Congress mentor Sonia Gandhi, but also decided to follow her husband Ajit Jogi who had floated the regional outfit Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and would be contesting on JCC(J) ticket from Kota Legislative Assembly seat.
Ajit Jogi who was considered to be outsider in the politics of Chhattisgarh Congress, had successfully ousted his bête noire including the former Chief Minister of erstwhile Madhya Pradesh Shyama Charan Shukla and former Union Minister Vidya Charan Shukla, since he had taken the baton of Chhattisgarh Congress after he became the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, carved out of Madhya Pradesh on November 1, 2000.
His dominance in Chhattisgarh Congress was such that no word could be spoken out without his consent. He used all his whims and fancies to corner his opponents within Congress. Heavy-weight like VC Shukla quit Congress to contest on Nationalist Congress Party ticket with his supporters in the year 2003 which eventually dethroned Ajit Jogi from the post of Chief Minister as the Congress closely lost the 2003 Legislative Assembly elections.
Ajit Jogi made a surprise move to float the political outfit Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) after he reportedly lost the faith from the party high command as his bête noire Bhupesh Baghel in close association initially with BK Hariprasad and later the Chhattisgarh Congress in-charge PL Punia, managed to convince the party high command that Congress had been struggling in Chhattisgarh due to reported proximity of Ajit Jogi with the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh.
Antagarh by-poll episode eventually put him on corner as his Amit Jogi, MLA from Marwahi was suspended from the party as the party high command felt that Congress felt embarrassment due to him as the Congress nominee Manturam Pawar had pulled in last minute of Antagarh by-polls at the behest of Jogi family.
Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly 2018 hustings eventually started countdown for Jogi family in Chhattisgarh Congress. Despite different opinion, the sitting MLA from Kota Legislative Assembly seat Dr Renu Jogi was denied party ticket on Thursday. It eventually resulted in end of an era of Jogi family in Chhattisgarh Congress.
She would not take on Congress nominee Vibhor Singh, a former DSP rank officer from Kota seat on November 20 elections whereas her husband Ajit Jogi would enter into electoral fray from his bastion Marwahi (ST) seat against the Congress candidate for the first time in nearly 18 years without the symbol of Congress.
