TNI ELECTION DESK, Raipur: In a surprising turn of events, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged victorious in Chhattisgarh, stunning not only the Congress party but also defying the predictions of several poll pundits. Early trends had initially favored the Congress, but as the vote count progressed, the BJP managed to overtake its rival, ultimately securing a convincing win.
As the noon approached, the opposition BJP, initially trailing, swiftly caught up and surpassed the ruling Congress. The BJP is currently leading with 56 seats, while the Congress trails behind with 34 seats in the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly. The majority mark required to form the government is 46 seats.
The unexpected outcome has left political analysts and pollsters reeling, as the majority of exit polls had predicted a comfortable victory for the Congress. Four exit polls anticipated the Congress to cross the majority mark on its own, while two predicted a range of 42-44 seats. However, only two out of nine exit polls accurately predicted the BJP’s impressive performance.
Raman Singh, a BJP veteran and former Chief Minister, attributed the party’s success to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. “The people believed in Modiji’s guarantee, that’s what the trends show. We could see the undercurrent, didn’t know it would be this huge,” remarked Singh. He further pointed to alleged corruption issues under Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s administration, including a liquor scam and the Mahadev app scam, as contributing factors to the Congress’s downfall.
When questioned about the potential Chief Minister candidate if the BJP were to come to power, Raman Singh stated, “This would be the party’s decision. I never asked for anything; whatever job I was assigned, I did it with all dedication.”
The Congress had placed its bets on the track record of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who successfully rebuilt the party in the state following the 2013 Jhiram Ghati Maoist attack that severely impacted the top Congress leadership.
The Chhattisgarh elections were held in two phases on November 7 and 17, with a voter turnout of 76.31 percent, slightly lower than the 76.88 percent recorded in the 2018 polls. The unexpected turn of events in Chhattisgarh serves as a reminder that in the dynamic landscape of Indian politics, predictions can often prove unreliable, and the electorate’s choices can reshape the political landscape in unexpected ways.