The BJP rounded up its north India sweep ahead of the 2024 big electoral battle with a surprise comfortable win in the tribal-dominated Chhattisgarh, achieved over gains offered due to women and tribals voting in large numbers, cashing in on internal bickering among top Congress leadership and having better poll management.

There were major upsets in the State with the Deputy CM T S Singh Deo trailing till results last came in and many prominent ministers, including the Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu losing in Durg Rural to the BJP. The State Congress Chief Dipak Kumar Baij lost in Chitrakot. Revenue Minister Jai Singh Agarwal lost from Korba seat. Another Minister Amarjeet Bhagat lost from Sitapur seat.

As per Election Commission of India (ECI) evening election result trend, the BJP won 40 seats and was leading on another 14 which if it converts into victory will take the right-wing party beyond the halfway mark of 46 to easily form the government in Chhattisgarh. On the other hand, Congress, under the outgoing Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, could not hold on to the power, as the trends showed that it won 31 seats while leading on 4, taking the total to 35 which is much less than the 68 constituencies it garnered in the the 2018 polls to unseat the fifteen-year long rule of the BJP. The Gondvana Gantantra Party (GGP), is leading on one seat.

Bhupesh Bhagel was set to represent the Patan seat again in assembly, leading by 19,723 votes against his relative and rival from BJP Vijay Bhagel. Former CM Ajit Jogi’s son Amit Jogi was trailing at the third spot. Bhupesh got 95,438 votes, Vijay managed 75,715 and Amit Jogi 4,822.

But, the reports coming from the state suggested a likely upset for the outgoing Deputy Chief Minister TS Singh Deo, who was trailing BJP’s Rajesh Agarwal by 7,577 votes in Ambikapur. The infighting between Bhupesh Bhagel and TS Singh Deo, which the Congress supremo could not contain despite elevating the latter to Deputy CM post in June, is considered one of the major factors for the poor performance of the leading opposition party.

Former three-time Chief Minister and six-term MLA Raman Singh romped home from his pocket borough of Rajnandgaon, defeating Congress’ Girish Dewangan by a margin of 45,084 votes. “People know that their (Congress’) guarantees are fake, they know that Bhupesh Baghel didn’t fulfill his promises, and that’s why they believe in PM Modi’s guarantees,” Singh told reporters on his party’s poll achievements.

Likewise, another senior BJP leader Brijmohan Agarwal was leading by 1,09,263 votes from Congress’ Mahant Ramsundar Das on Raipur City (South) seat.

The BJP’s victory is manifested in the undiluted credibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a large turnout of women for the party, driven by various ‘nari-shakti’ welfare schemes of the central government and the promise in its manifesto to provide ₹12,000 per month to every married woman, said political analysts. The Congress tried to counter it by offering ₹15,000 per month to married women during polls but it was too late, added the political analysts.

PM Modi himself acknowledged women support as the key to BJP’s success in these polls during his Sunday evening address at the party headquarters here. The party has also done well in the tribal belt of the Bastar region which went to polls in the first phase on November 9.

Better electoral strategy too appears to have given a headway to the BJP which decided to go faceless in the elections like elsewhere in the adjoining Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana. Besides that, it is learnt that the BJP aided Amit Jogi’s Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) and Gondvana Gantantra Party (GGP) behind-the-scenes to leverage their ability to cut into the Congress votes, especially in tribal areas.  

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