Considered underdogs in the run-up to the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections, the BJP stunned the ruling Congress and made a spectacular comeback in the State, winning 54 seats in the 90-member Assembly. The Congress, in contrast, witnessed a major reversal of fortunes with its tally coming down to 35 from 71 seats in the outgoing Assembly and less than half of the 75 plus slogan it had coined. As a personal setback for incumbent Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, nine of the 12 Ministers in his Cabinet lost. Among them who lost was Deputy Chief Minister T.S. Singh Deo apart from Congress State president Deepak Baij.
The BJP inflicted considerable damage on the Congress in all the major regions of the State, including the tribal belts of Bastar and Sarguja.
In a State where it had ruled for three uninterrupted terms between 2003 and 2018 under a single Chief Minister, Raman Singh, the BJP did not even present a chief ministerial face against the Congress’s Bhupesh Baghel. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the face of its campaign and following the win, the party’s State unit credited Modi ki guarantee or Modi’s guarantee for the splendid show.
The term guarantee refers to the delivery record on welfare schemes run by the BJP-ruled Centre and a string of electoral promises it made ahead of the polls. The BJP’s poll plank rested on these “guarantees”, combining them with the issue of corruption. Its slogan “Aur Nahin Sahibo Badal ke Rahibo [Chhattisgarhi for We won’t tolerate any further, and will bring a change”] echoed the narrative it successfully built against the Bhupesh Baghel government.
Cash assistance scheme
A key electoral promise that is being credited as a pivotal factor behind the BJP’s improved performance is the Mahtari Vandan Yojana, a cash assistance scheme that promises ₹12,000 for every married woman in the State. Similar to the Ladli Behna scheme, that is said to be a game changer in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, the scheme and its aggressive push consolidated women voters in its favour, is how party’s State leaders credited the scheme in their initial analysis. It also countered some of the Congress’ promises on paddy procurement with its own set of promises in its manifesto.
In its win, the BJP defied all the exit polls predictions, giving an edge, albeit narrow, to the Congress. It had a delayed start to the campaign and had an insipid performance as the Opposition in the outgoing Assembly, but its leaders insist they had anticipated the win.
“We were looking at an undercurrent but generally people were unable to gauge it would be so massive. I had been repeating through the media that there is a strong undercurrent as the people of Chhattisgarh and that people of Chhattisgarh have rejected Bhupesh and wanted to defeat him,” said BJP leader and former Chief Minister Raman Singh soon after the trends stabilised in favour of the BJP.
Modi’s guarantee and slogans such as “Ghar Ghar Modi” also reverberated throughout the day at the BJP headquarters in Raipur which saw massive celebrations as the numbers kept pouring in.
“As soon as we launched our manifesto and Modi ji’s guarantee was attached to it, people were 100% confident that what the Bharatiya Janata Party says, it does,” said Mr. Singh, who won from the Rajnandgaon seat.
‘Corruption, major issue’
“Corruption was a major issue. Bhupesh Baghel’s corruption and continuously whether it was the liquor scam, the coal scam, the Mahadev [betting app] case or the scam in which youths were cheated in PSC recruitments or backtracking on promises made to women. On these issues, people wanted to change Bhupesh,” he added.
The Congress’ focus on the rural belts was expected to create some damage in the urban areas but the BJP won in the rural regions as well despite the Congress promising a loan waiver, a promise that had catapulted it to power the last time.
While Mr. Singh has administrative experience and being the State president makes Bilaspur MP Arun Sao as a frontrunner for the Chief Minister’s post, there are other names doing the rounds as well. Union Minister Renuka Singh, bureaucrat-turned politician O.P. Chaudhary and former State president Vishnu Deo Sai are also said to be in the reckoning for the coveted post. Senior party leaders hinted that the name was likely to be announced on Monday evening.
Mr. Baghel, meanwhile, met Chhattisgarh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan and tendered his resignation.
“The people’s mandate has always been on the head. Even today I accept this result with my head bowed. There is satisfaction in the fact that in the last 5 years, I have fulfilled every promise made to you, tried to give more than the promise and served Chhattisgarh Mahtari to the best of my ability. The expectations and aspirations of the public are great, I respect the wisdom of the public,” he wrote on X.
In a statement, the State unit of the Congress conceded defeat and acknowledged that it was not successful in taking its message to the public. On the defeat, party’s State in-charge Kumari Selja said the party would review the shortcomings and then start preparing for the Lok Sabha elections.
