11 Dec, 18:06 (IST)

BJP's Dr Raman Singh Wins Rajnandgaon Seat. Defeats Karuna Shukla by 8,469 votes. JCC's Deepak Yadav secures only 1030 votes.

11 Dec, 13:17 (IST)

Congress Candidate Trails in Rajnandgaon Against Dr Raman Singh. Catch the live updates here.

11 Dec, 13:02 (IST)

BJP's Dr Raman Singh Leads From Rajnandgaon Seat by 145 Votes. He is challenged by Congress's Karuna Shukla. JCC's Deepak Kumar Yadav is contesting from this seat. 

Rajnandgaon: The much-awaited semi-final ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections are over with the completion of Assembly polls in five states, and the counting of votes has started to decide the fate of tall political leaders. Considering the case of Chhattisgarh, stakes are high as Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh is contesting for the fourth time against former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s niece, Karuna Shukla.

Dr Raman Singh, contesting from his home turf – Rajnanadgaon – has been unbeaten since three Assembly elections, while Shukla is contesting on Congress seat after switching side ahead of polls. In 2013, Raman Singh defeated Congress candidate Alka Uday Mudliyar by a margin of 36,000 votes and in 2008, he defeated Udai Mudliyar by a margin of over 33,000 votes. Results of 5-State Assembly Elections 2018 to be Declared Tomorrow, Stakes High Ahead of 2019 Finale.

Singh is one of those strong leaders whose presence in the constituency is not only seen but felt. Prior to contesting the Assembly elections from Rajnandgaon, he won the Lok Sabha seat from the same constituency in 1998 and served as Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry from 1999 to 2003 in the Vajpayee government.

Looking at the track record of Shukla, she was a member of 14th Lok Sabha and represented Janjgir constituency on BJP ticket, but was defeated in 2009 from Korba to Charan Das Mahant of the Congress. In 2014, she switched side to Congress and fought from Bilaspur constituency but was defeated again by BJP's Lakhan Lal Sahu by a margin of 176,436 votes.

Apart from Dr Raman Singh, Aam Aadmi party has fielded a graduate Varun Kumar Tiwari, and Congress has fielded postgraduate candidate Karuna Shukla for this seat. Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) has given the ticket to 12th pass candidate Deepak Kumar Yadav.

With literacy rate – 86.83 percent and sex ratio – 991, Rajnandgaon is one constituency which would determine the fate of candidates, wish to change the future of the Naxal-affected state. However, nothing can be said as of now as 76.28 percent polling can change a lot of post-poll predictions. Who will win and who will be CM of Chhattisgarh will be clear in a few hours. Stay with us for complete coverage of Assembly elections in five states.