Chhattisgarh polls: How rise of the Sahus is set to tilt scales in state

A total of 28 Sahus have been fielded by the three principal aspirant parties for 90 seats

Chhattisgarh was for long thought of as a tribal state alongside Jharkhand and the North East owing to its large tribal population – even when it was part of Madhya Pradesh. It had 32 Scheduled Tribe Assembly seats out of 90, and for the Congress that is where the story rested. Arvind Netam and Ganga Potai were for decades the grand old party’s flag bearers. They were later joined by Mahendra Karma.

Then something radical happened in March this year. Tamradhwaj Sahu, a little-known leader from Durg and first-time member of parliament, made it to the Congress Working Committee’s main body