The Election Commission on Monday announced the voting dates in Chhattisgarh and sounded the election trumpet. Voting will be held in two phases for a total of 90 assembly seats in Chhattisgarh. Voting will take place in the state on November 7 and 17, while counting of votes along with other states will take place on December 3. The Congress had won 71 seats in the 90-member assembly in the 2018 assembly elections in Chhattisgarh after 15 years of BJP rule. Since then, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has tried to strengthen the position of Congress by promoting regional identity. Know in this report what electoral equations are being created in the state…
fight hard to win
Chhattisgarh assembly elections are going to be very important for Congress as it will boost its secular political image. Electoral success in the state will also be very important for the Congress from the point of view of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This will give it great strength in the INDIA alliance. At present Congress has 71 MLAs. BJP has 13 MLAs, JCC (Janata Congress Chhattisgarh) has 3 and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has two MLAs. Vaishali Nagar seat of Durg district is vacant due to the death of the MLA two months ago.
What do the statistics say?
In the year 2018, Congress made an unprecedented comeback in the state and won 67 out of total 90 seats. In the subsequent by-elections, there was an unprecedented increase in the number of Congress MLAs. After the victory in 2018, Congress made Bhupesh Baghel the CM of the state. He became the first OBC (Other Backward Class) Chief Minister of the state, where the community constitutes more than 40 per cent of the total population.
Bhupesh strengthened Congress’s position
Anti-incumbency wave and dissatisfaction of BJP workers towards the leadership are said to be the main reasons for Congress’s victory five years ago. At present, all the seats in tribal dominated Surguja and Bastar regions are with the ruling Congress. At the same time, election analysts say that during the last five years, Baghel has strengthened Chhattisgarhism by promoting regional festivals, sports and art and culture of the state. This has strengthened the position of Congress.
attempt to draw attention to corruption
On the other hand, BJP has tried to draw people’s attention towards corruption. Making this an issue, BJP is continuously attacking the Congress government. BJP has attacked the Congress government citing the raids of the Enforcement Directorate. BJP has tried to corner the Bhupesh Baghel government by mentioning Mahadev App scam, coal and liquor scam. However, election analysts say that Congress appears to be electorally weaker in the northern and southern regions, especially the tribal areas of the state, as compared to the 2018 elections.
Big exam in tribal areas
On this issue, a Congress leader, on the condition of anonymity, said – Compared to the seats we got in the 2018 elections, Congress is likely to lose seats in all four regions (Surguja, Bilaspur, Bastar and Durg). . The first reason is that a large number of first-time MLAs have not performed well. As a result, there is an anti-incumbency wave in these areas.
Sahu community can disintegrate
The Congress leader said- Some castes who voted for Congress in 2018 are inclined towards BJP (this time). Sahu community is included in these castes. In the year 2018, about 12 percent voters of Sahu community had voted for Congress with the hope that its leader Tamradhwaj Sahu would be made the Chief Minister. Since it is now clear that if Congress wins, Baghel will be made the Chief Minister, Sahu has moved towards BJP.
Election results of many seats will be affected
A deficiency is clearly visible in the BJP camp also. BJP has failed to attack Congress aggressively in the last five years. It is only in recent months that the BJP has managed to present corruption as an issue, but questions still remain over how effective the anti-corruption campaign will be in the assembly elections. At the local level, the district units of the BJP have failed to counter the Congress’s attacks against the Centre. This may also affect the election results of many seats.
BJP also faces a big challenge
However, this time in the elections BJP has expressed confidence only in its local units. A BJP official said- The party has expressed hope from the RSS and its members to work for the party on the ground. If we look at the figures of 2018, Congress had secured 68 seats and 42.8 percent votes, which was 10% more than BJP. According to election observers, BJP is facing a tough challenge to bridge this huge gap and cross the majority mark of 46 seats.