In recently-held Chhattisgarh assembly elections, Congress registered a landslide victory by bagging 68 seats. The BJP, which was in power in the state since 2003, won only 15 seats.
After selecting chief ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, Congress president Rahul Gandhi held hectic parleys with top party leaders on Saturday to decide on the top post for Chhattisgarh.
In Chhattisgarh, the grand old party ended 15-year-rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Congress party won 68 of the 90 seats.
Majority of exit polls earlier had said Congress was likely to get enough seats to form a government in Chhattisgarh.
People did not like the Congress President Rahul Gandhi being ‘ridiculed’, he said.
According to the results of the Chhattisgarh elections, 45 out of the total candidates from the party could not even bag 1,000 votes in the process.
"The results are not on the expected lines... The results are certainly an opportunity for BJP leadership and cadres to pause and analyse", he said.
The party looks set to secure almost three-fourths majority in the Assembly which proves that anti-incumbancy played out in favour of the Congress.
It would be naïve to conclude that a defeat in the Assembly polls would easily translate into similar outcome in these states when the electorate cast their votes for choosing the government at the Centre in 2019.
The Congress appeared set to wrest Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the BJP, which was trailing marginally in Madhya Pradesh in a cliffhanger.
The fate of 1,079 contestants, including Chief Minister Raman Singh, his 11 ministers and state presidents of the BJP and the Congress will be decided on Tuesday.
The results of the crucial assembly polls in five states, seen as a semi-final to next year's Lok Sabha elections, are set to be declared on December 11.
The exit poll shows the Congress lagging behind the BJP with the grand old party getting between 32 to 38 seats.
The Congress also alleged an organised attempt by the BJP to try and subvert the mandate of the people and urged the poll panel to take congnisance of these extremely alarming incidents.
Here is a look at five biggest obstacles before next Chhattisgarh government.
This year, tribals fought Naxal-fear to cast their first-ever vote in some parts of Chhattisgarh. In Dantewada, locals in violence-affected villages like Kidiras, Tumrigunda, Padmeta and Paurnar crossed Indravati River to vote for the first time sinc
Here is a look at key candidates in Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections 2018
According to Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha, the polling percentage is likely to rise further as a number of people were still in the queue for voting.
Elaborate security arrangements including use of helicopters and drone have been put in place for the polls to take place at over 19,000 polling booths and over a lakh security personnel have been deployed.
In the first phase, polling was held for 18 seats in the eight Naxal-affected districts of the state on November 12.
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