Raipur, October 7: The Raman Singh-led BJP in Chhattisgarh survived being routed in December 2013 - at the height of the Narendra Modi wave - as the Congress fell 6 seats short of clinching a majority. As the two parties are locked again in a tight contest, it is worth recalling the vote-share distribution and seats' tally in the last legislative polls.
Chief Minister Raman Singh, who presided over as the head of state in 2003 after ousting the then Ajit Jogi-led Congress, has earned the tag of a "no-nonsense administrator" who has significantly cracked down on left-wing extremism. His critics, however, claim that his government has failed to tackle the agrarian distress, employment woes and the issues raised by the tribal population. Full Schedule of Chhattisgarh Assembly Polls 2018.
Chhattisgarh Assembly Election Results 2013
Vote Share | Seats | |
BJP | 41% | 49 |
Congress | 40.03% | 39 |
Others | 18.7% | 2 |
The BJP's tally had dropped by one seat in the 90-member assembly, whereas, the Congress had improved its position by one constituency. 1 Independent and 1 MLA of the Bahujan Samaj Party were also victorious.
In this round of the polls, the Mayawati-led BSP has formed an alliance with the state's first chief minister Ajit Jogi, who formed a new party last year after being expelled from the Congress. Opinion Poll Predicts Congress to Win State With Paper-Thin Majority.
The opinion polls, however, have given Congress the edge, with the latest ABP News survey predicting the party to win 47 seats -- two more than the majority mark, whereas, the BJP is expected to be reduced to 40.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 07, 2018 10:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).