chattisgarh-elections

Updated: Dec 11, 2018 13:37 IST

The Congress was leading on 60 seats in the 90 member Chhattisgarh assembly, while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was ahead only on 23 as counting of votes in the assembly elections continued on Tuesday.Former Congress chief minister Ajit Jogi’s Janata Congress Chhattisgarh, which is fighting in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party, was ahead in five seats.

Chief minister Raman Singh, who is seeking a fourth term in the state, was leading in his Rajnandgaon constituency after falling behind briefly, as per trends available at 1.30 pm

Exit polls conducted on Friday last predicted a neck-and-neck fight between the two major parties, and the Congress plans to pack off its legislators from Raipur to Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka where the party is in power, in case of a hung assembly or a slender majority in the 90-member assembly (91 including 1 nominated). A party needs 46 for a majority.

“We are confident of a win. But we are also aware of the Amit Shah-model, hence we are extra cautious. Vehicles are ready to ship the legislators to Bangalore,” said a Congress leader, who has been instrumental in party’s election management in the state, on Monday.

Follow live updates here: Will Congress stage comeback after 15 years? Results today

“A lot is at stake in Chhattisgarh for the BJP, so they would use all tricks to keep the state in their kitty. We don’t want a repeat of Goa in case we get a wafer thin majority or emerge single largest party,” another leader involved in the election campaign said, referring to the Goa assembly election in 2017 where the Congress emerged the single-largest party but the BJP cobbled together a coalition government.

The BJP claimed the Congress was day-dreaming and that it would get over 55 seats to form its own government for the fourth time. “They are in fear and don’t trust their own legislators. We are not engaged in these sort of practices and we will form government on our own,” BJP spokesman Sacchinand Upasane said.

Elections in Chhattisgarh have been close contests in terms of voteshare. In the last assembly election in 2013, the difference in voteshare between the two rival parties was less than one percentage point (0.75%). The BJP won 49 seats, the Congress got 39 while the Bahujan Samaj Party and an independent bagged one seat each.

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Polling in the state’s 27 districts was held in two phases - on November 12 for 18 seats in Maoist-affected areas and on November 20 for the remaining 72 seats - and the total turnout was around 76.6%.

The BJP banked on its so-called development agenda while the Congress focused on farmers’ distress and allegations of corruption, besides promising a loan waiver to farmers and higher Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy if voted to power.

Also read | Chhattisgarh assembly elections 2018: Confident of fourth term for BJP, says Raman Singh

The election is also a test for Jogi, who floated a regional front Janata Congress Chhattisgarh and struck an alliance with the BSP. Jogi is said to have an influence among the scheduled caste (SC) community who are spread in the northern plains of Chhattisgarh.

Both major parties had expressed confidence about a victory.

“We are winning Chhattisgarh and will easily cross the mark of 46 seats. We are hoping for two-thirds majority. There was wave in favour of us and party because of farmers’ distress and movements across the state. People of Chhattisgarh are fed-up with Raman Singh and his government and hence they have voted us,” said Congress general secretary PL Punia.

Raman Singh said there was no possibility of a hung assembly as his party was getting more than 50 seats. “We are confident that we will form the government fourth time without any external support,” said Singh.