Congress' bet against Chief Minister Raman Singh at his home turf, Karun Shukla is niece of late BJP leader and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. A former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP, Shukla will be contesting from Rajnandgaon the home constituency of the current CM. She represented Janjgir constituency in the 14th Lok Sabha and joined the Congress before the 2014 Lok Sabha election.