Raipur, Dec 4 (Representative) Riding the crest of an anti-incumbency wave, the BJP vanquished the Congress in tribal-dominated Chhattisgarh by emerging victorious in 54 of the total 90 Assembly constituencies in the vote count on Sunday. The stage is now set for the swearing-in of a saffron government, with the BJP coming up with its most emphatic victory since the formation of the state. The suspense now centres around who the BJP would anoint as its chief minister, as it had gone to the hustings without a face for the top job, rather banking on the appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At the other end, nine ministers of the outgoing Bhupesh Baghel government bit the dust, indicating the level of anti-incumbency that brought the Congress regime down. On a day of riveting drama that saw a snake and ladder game of supremacy between the two principal rivals, counting commenced at 8 am in all 33 district headquarters. By notching up a lead during the counting of postal ballots, the saffron camp gave the first indication of which way the poll wind was blowing. Even then, the seesaw phenomenon was witnessed on several occasions during the day. Among the BJP stalwarts, its Vice President and erstwhile state Chief Minister Raman Singh retained Rajnandgaon for the fourth successive time vanquishing his nearest rival Girish Dewangan (Cong) by a whopping margin of 45,084; which is Dr Singh’s biggest victory margin ever from this constituency.
BJP state head Arun Sao defeated Thaneshvar Sahu (Cong) at Lormi by 45,891 votes. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel won from his traditional bastion Patan by defeating his nearest rival Vijay Baghel (BJP) by 19,723 votes; Vidhan Sabha Speaker Charan Das Mahant routed Dr Khilawan Sahu (BJP) by 12,395 in Sakti, but Deputy Speaker Sant Ram Netam was humbled in Keshkal by Neelkanth Tekam (BJP) by 5,560 votes. Deputy Chief Minister Tribhuvaneshwar Saran Singh Deo was pipped by a wafer-thin margin of 187 votes at what used to be his ‘citadel’ Ambikapur, in Surguja district. Deo, who was beaten by the BJP’s Rajesh Agrawal, has applied for a recount. For the first time since Independence, Sitapur went out of the Congress grasp as Food Minister Amarjeet Bhagat was trounced by the BJP’s newcomer Ramkumar Toppo by 17,160 votes. In Arang, Urban Development Minister Shivkumar Dahariya lost to Guru Khushwant Saheb (BJP) by 16,500 votes. First Timer Ishwar Sahu (BJP) decimated Congress stalwart and Minister Ravindra Choubey in Saja.
Senior Minister Mohammad Akbar was sent home at Kawardha by Mr Vijay Sharma (BJP). It was indeed sheer irony that Akbar – who notched up the highest victory margin in 2018 – lost by more than 41,000 votes. Minister Mohan Markam was humbled at Kondagaon by BJP Vice President Lata Usendi who garnered 18,572 votes more. In Korba, Revenue Minister Jaisingh Agrawal lost to Lakhanlal Devangan (BJP) by a margin of 25,629. Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu was beaten at Durg-Rural by Lalit Chandrakar (BJP) by 16,642 votes. Minister Guru Rudra Sahu’s constituency change did not help as the BJP surfed on the anti-incumbency wave. The Assembly’s Leader of the Opposition Narayan Chandel experienced defeat at the hands of Byas Kashyap (Cong) at Janjgir-Champa by 6,971 votes. Congress state head Deepak Baij was humbled by Vinayak Goyal (BJP). The widest victory margin was 67,719 scored by Brijmohan Agrawal (BJP) in Raipur City South. Election Commission statistics reveal that the saffron camp secured a vote share of 46.30