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Chhattisgarh election results 2018: Congress ready to move legislators to Bengaluru amid close contest with BJP
Chhattisgarh election results 2018: Raman Singh is eyeing a fourth consecutive term as a chief minister even as the Congress is hoping to return to power in the state after 15 years.
Wary of horse trading in the wake of a hung assembly or a wafer-thin majority, the Congress has made preparations to move its legislators from Raipur to Bengaluru to insulate them from any kind of arm twisting by the opposition.
The Congress was ahead in Chhattisgarh as counting of votes in crucial assembly elections in five states started at 8am. Raman Singh is eyeing a fourth consecutive term as a chief minister even as the Congress is hoping to return to power in the state after 15 years.
Catch all the live updates from Chhattisgarh Assembly Election Results 2018
Sources in the party said the leadership is taking no chance despite being ‘confident’ of wresting power from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state.
“We have tried to be ahead, and prepared accordingly, of the BJP in all aspects be it election strategy, reaching out to voters, campaigning or candidate selection. We are confident of a win,” said a Congress leader, who has been instrumental in party’s election management in the state.
“But we are also aware of the Amit Shah-model, hence we are extra cautious. Vehicles are ready to ship the legislators to Bangalore,” the leader said.
“Lot is at stake in Chhattisgarh for the BJP, so they would all tricks to keep the state in its kitty. We don’t want a repeat of Goa in case we get a wafer-thin majority or we emerge single largest party,” another leader involved in the election process said.
Congress had emerged as the single largest party in Goa in the assembly election in 2017, but the BJP managed to outfox the leadership and form a government in the state by putting in a post-poll alliance with legislators of smaller parties and independent candidates and staked the claim to form a government within hours of the election outcome.
The leader also said that about ten days ago a meeting was held in Delhi and senior leaders of party instructed to be cautious if the party gets a majority and bags less than 50 seats.
“We are instructed not celebrate victory until the government is formed in the state and keep a tab on the legislators till then,” said the leader.
While the Congress leadership has maintained they would win a handsome majority, exit polls have hinted at a close contest with four out of eight surveys giving the ruling Raman Singh dispensation a slight edge and the rest going with the Congress.
The contest has also become more unpredictable after the assembly election became triangular with the entry of the third front led by former chief minister Ajit Jogi, who is leading the alliance of his newly-formed Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Community Party of India (CPI).
Even in 2013, when the state had witnessed a direct contest between the BJP and Congress, the election results were a close call. While the BJP managed to win 49 seats against Congress’ tally of 39 in the legislative assembly of 90, there was a difference of only 0.7% in their vote share. In absolute numbers, the difference was just over 96,000 votes.
A party needs 46 seats to form the government in Chhattisgarh.
Congress, therefore, is being extra cautious and preparing to ensure its legislators are sequestered in case they get seats just around the majority mark, or if it emerges as the single largest party in case of a hung assembly.
“We are getting a two-thirds majority in the state but we are prepared for anything. BJP leaders know that they are losing hence horse trading is the last resort for them. However, till now we are united and no one in our party is willing to be lured by the BJP,” Congress spokesperson Shailesh Nitin Trivedi said.
Political observers, however, think the Congress was being wise in preparing for the worst.
“Many candidates fielded by the Congress are contesting for the first time. So they could be vulnerable to certain incentives. So, if they are making such arrangements, there is no harm as they feel they are in striking distance of returning to power,” said Ashok Tomar, a political analyst.
Meanwhile, the BJP claimed that the Congress was day-dreaming and they would not get a majority.
“We are getting more than 55 seats and we are confident. They are in fear and secondly, they don’t trust their own legislators. We are not engaged in these sorts of practices and we will form the government on our own,” said Sacchinand Upasane, senior BJP leader and spokesperson.
Catch all the live updates from Assembly Election Results 2018
