If Nand Kumar Sai has recovered from the shock of the rejection of his nomination papers for the Tapkara assembly segment, he may well be thinking of the uphill task ahead if he wants to re-enter the Chhattisgarh assembly.

The Bharatiya Janata Party had fielded the leader of the opposition against Chief Minister Ajit Jogi in the Marwahi assembly constituency. Jogi is on a strong wicket but the idea was to give him a tough fight and try to tie him down in Marwahi.

However, to be on the safe side, the BJP had nominated Sai from Tapkara, in Jashpur district, too.

The plan received a setback when Sai's papers were rejected by the returning officer for Tapkara owing to the presence of another BJP candidate in the fray.