As elections draw near in the Naxal-affected Central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel, the third and incumbent Chief Minister of the state, speaks candidly about the state’s distinct politics, its issues and his approaches to tackle them. Bhupesh Baghel keeps a low profile in national politics and maintains his focus on his home state. Among many of his accomplishments he claims to have effectively controlled Naxalism through non-violent means. Watch or listen in to this edition of ANI podcast with Smita Prakash, to understand how the politics in Chhattisgarh has its own twists, what Bhupesh Baghel did differently than his predecessors and how prepared he is for the upcoming state election. The discussion touches upon a wide range of political spectrum including what he refers to as “petty politics of BJP”. The discussion also delves into politically hot topics such as ED, IT raids in the state, Hindutva politics, religion conversion, INDIA alliance. While Bhupesh Baghel was refreshingly candid and straightforward on all questions posed to him, he also addressed queries that have captured everybody’s attention these days like ‘Is Priyanka Gandhi jumping in the election game this time around? And who is going to be leading the pack in INDIA alliance?