The ruling Congress in Chhattisgarh has won the Khairagarh assembly bypoll by a huge margin of over 20,000 votes on Saturday, a poll official said.
The by-election was required after Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) MLA and former MP Devvrat Singh died in November last year.
With the fourth by-poll victory since 2018, Congress now has 71 seats in the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly.
The ruling Congress had promised the people that it would make Khairagarh a district if it wins the seat, which is believed to be the main reason behind the victory.
This time, the BJP has once again fielded Komal Janghel, a former MLA, for the bypoll, while Yashoda Verma, the Khairagarh block unit chief of Congress, is the ruling party’s nominee. Janghel and Verma both belong to the Lodhi caste, a numerically powerful OBC community in the Khairagarh area.
Political analysts of Chhattisgarh believe that the victory was anticipated but the margin suggests that BJP workers want to change their party leadership in the state.
“After the declaration that Congress will carve out Khairagarh district, the Congress victory was anticipated but the margin of nearly 20,000 votes clearly suggests that BJP workers and voters want to change their leadership in the state,” said Sudeip Shrivastava.
{{/usCountry}}“After the declaration that Congress will carve out Khairagarh district, the Congress victory was anticipated but the margin of nearly 20,000 votes clearly suggests that BJP workers and voters want to change their leadership in the state,” said Sudeip Shrivastava.
{{/usCountry}}Former chief minister and senior BJP leader Raman Singh claimed that the Congress has won only on the basis of the announcement of forming a new district.
“The ruling Congress has done nothing for the people of the state hence they came up with the announcement of forming Khairagarh district .The question is whether all 90 constituencies will be declared districts in 2023 elections...They are misleading the people of the state,” said Singh.
In the 2018 assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, the Congress registered a landslide victory winning 68 seats in the 90-member House decimating the BJP to 15. The JCC (J) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had bagged 5 and 2 seats respectively.