Chhattisgarh Poll Result: Will Bhupesh Baghel take Congress to another win, or will Raman Singh triumph
Chhattisgarh Election Results: With a clear edge in Chhattisgarh Assembly polls 2023, Congress hopes to retain the power in the state. However, BJP has also played all its cards, including riding on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in hope to make a return. While the most probable faces for the Chief Minister post from Congress and BJP remain Bhupesh Baghel and Raman Singh respectively, there have been no official announcements from either party.
Among the key candidates in Chhattisgarh are Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel who is running from his home turf Patan, ex-Chief Minister Raman Singh who’s running from Rajnandgaon, deputy Chief Minister TS Singh Deo contesting from Ambikapur and BJP’s Vijay Baghel who is contesting against Bhupesh Baghel from Patan.
The voting for Chhattisgarh’s 90-seat assembly happened in two phases on November 7 and November 17 and saw voter turnout of 78 percent and 75.88 percent respectively.
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Chhattisgarh, which polled for the Assembly in two phases on November 7 and November 17, recorded 70.60 per cent voter turnout in round two. The first phase of polling, held for 20 Assembly seats, saw a turnout of 78 per cent.
Bhupesh Baghel’s rule hasn’t been without controversies. In a startling allegation, the Enforcement Directorate earlier this month claimed that a courier caught with over Rs 5 crore in cash told the agency that the promoters of the Mahadev betting app made payments of Rs 508 crore to Mr Baghel.
Four exit polls expect the party to cross the majority mark of 46 (the Chhattisgarh Assembly has 90 seats) on its own, two more predict 42-44 and the remaining three give it more than 40 each. Only two of nine exit polls give the BJP the haul of 46+ seats it needs to win the state.
The Congress has not won consecutive elections in the same state in over two decades; the last time it successfully defended a government was Madhya Pradesh in 1993 and 1998, when Digvijaya Singh was Chief Minister and it decimated the BJP – winning 174 and 172 of 230 seats.
In Chhattisgarh, the Congress is pinning its hopes on Bhupesh Baghel for a second consecutive term. Bhupesh Baghel appears to be the man of the moment, laying down an election agenda that even the BJP is forced to respond to. The Chief Minister is credited with revitalising the party in the state and also leading it to victory in 2018, wresting power from the BJP that enjoyed three terms in power.
