A voter shows her finger marked with indelible ink after casting her vote for the 1st phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly elections.
Credit: PTI Photo
With the first phase of polling to 20 Assembly seats in Chhattisgarh progressing smoothly on Tuesday, and the second phase scheduled to take place on November 17, the stakes are high for the key parties in the fray.
The parties contesting from the state are Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). However, BJP and Congress are locked in a face-off. All eyes will be on the poll results to see if Congress will attain another term or if BJP will be voted back to power.
Chhattisgarh, which was earlier a part of Madhya Pradesh, was formed on November 1, 2000 as the 26th state of India. The first-ever elections were held in 2003 and BJP formed the government with Raman Singh as the chief minister.
Here is a look at the key parties' best-ever performances in the Chhattisgarh assembly elections.
2003 Assembly polls:
Out of the 90 seats in Chhattisgarh Assembly, BJP managed to win 50, whereas Congress secured 37 seats, BSP won 2 seats while NCP bagged 1 seat.
2008 Assembly polls:
BJP clean-swept with 50 seats while Congress managed to secure only 38 seats, and BSP 2 seats. The then incumbent CM Raman Singh was sworn in as chief minister for his second term
2013 Assembly polls:
49 seats were won by BJP while Congress bagged 39 seats. BSP and another Independent candidate won single seats each. Raman Singh, who was fielded from Rajnandgaon seat, became CM for the third time in a row.
2018 Assembly polls:
Congress won with a clear majority of 68 seats while BJP managed to secure only 15 seats, JCC 5 seats and BSP 2 seats. Bhupesh Baghel, who contested from Patan seat, became the chief minister of the state.
The counting of votes for the 2023 assembly elections will be held on December 3.