Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: Defying exit poll projections, the BJP stunned the ruling Congress and made a spectacular comeback in Chhattisgarh, winning 54 seats in the 90-member Assembly. It dashed the hopes of the Bhupesh Baghel to return to power for the second consecutive term.
While the BJP’s vote share was 46%, the Congress managed to win 35 seats with over 42% vote share. If the BJP decides to go for a tribal CM, the choice may most likely fall on Vishnu Deo Sai. The other contenders for the CM’s post are Raman Singh; Renuka Sing and Ramvichar Netam.
The Congress and BJP tried hard to woo farmers, women and the poor with populist schemes. But it seems the promises made by the BJP, which it promoted as ‘Modi ki Guarantee 2023’, worked in its favour. The BJP, which suffered a huge setback in tribal-dominated assembly seats in the 2018 polls, put up a good show this time winning 17 of the 29 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.
According to poll experts, the public rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda in the tribal belt, launch of the party’s two parivartan yatras from tribal pockets and pre-poll promises worked in the party’s favour in the adivasi belt. Meanwhile, accepting the defeat, Baghel said, “I have submitted my resignation (from CM post) to the Governor of Chhattisgarh. We humbly accept the mandate of the people.”
| Chhattisgarh | ||
|---|---|---|
| Parties | Leading/Won | |
| BJP | 54 | |
| INC | 35 | |
| GGP | 1 | |
