Chhattisgarh: Congress' TS Singhdeo is the richest

TS Singhdeo, who is contesting the assembly polls from Ambikapur seat on a Congress ticket, is the Leader of the Opposition in Chhattisgarh assembly and the richest candidate in fray with assets worth over Rs 500 crore in his possession.

Fondly known as ‘Baba Saheb,' Singhdeo belongs to the Sarguja royal family and is the current 'Maharaja' (118th) of the erstwhile princely State of Sarguja in Chhattisgarh.

He is one of the front-runners for the chief minister's post.

Till the last assembly polls, the battle remained between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.

Singhdeo, who has been winning from the Ambikapur seat for the last two consecutive terms, is seeking yet another term in the State Assembly.

But, a piquant situation has emerged this time for the Congress leader.

While Singhdeo is contesting the election as T S Baba, two of his rival candidates have filed nominations to join the fray as T S Singh Baba.

One of these two candidates has been fielded by the Jogi's JCC party while the other T S Singh Baba is an independent candidate.

Against Singhdeo, the BJP has fielded his close relative Anuragh Singhdeo, who was defeated by the Congress leader in the last two elections. A total of 22 candidates are in the fray from the Ambikapur constituency.

Born in Allahabad on October 31, 1952, to Ambikapur ruler late M S Singhdeo, former Chief Secretary of undivided Madhya Pradesh, Singhdeo is a post graduate in History.

Though Singhdeo kept himself away from politics for many years despite his family's association with the grand old party, he joined Congress and became the member of the State Congress Committee in the undivided Madhya Pradesh in 1983.

He had his first stint in the electoral politics when he was elected as the chairman of the Ambikapur municipal council. He was later made convenor of the Youth Congress' environment cell and also given charge of the party's Sewa Dal as its president.

During his two consecutive terms as MLA, Singhdeo held many positions including member of the Chhattisgarh State Assembly Privilege Committee and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.

He was made Leader of Opposition in Chhattisgarh Assembly in his second term as a Congress MLA in January 2014.