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In a close finish, Chhattisgarh, too, was won by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), giving Chief Minister Raman Singh’s Government a record third term.
In a closely fought election, the BJP was declared winner with 49 seats; the Congress could win only 39 seats, with one seat each going to a BJP rebel and the Bahujan Samaj Party, respectively.
Known for producing nail-biting finishes, it was a see-saw battle between the BJP and Congress right through the counting process.
While the BJP had placed its bets on the ‘ chawal wale baba’ , as Raman Singh is fondly known, the Congress assumed that the annihilation of its entire State leadership in May in a gruesome massacre by Naxalites would create a sympathy wave for the party.
The Congress also believed that fatigue with Singh would automatically swing the voters to its side.
Both assumptions, however, proved wrong. Even in Bastar district, which voted with the Naxalite threat of violence looming large, people came out in large numbers to vote and this had raised the hopes of a victory for the Congress.
“People do not come out in such large numbers to vote for a party. They come out in such large numbers to vote out a party,” a senior Congress leader had said after the voting. It was a view many in the party shared. The results, however, have proved them wrong.
Interestingly, Bastar, which generally scripts a party’s defeat or victory in Chhattisgarh, did not play a decisive role this time. The BJP had won nine and 11 of Bastar’s 12 seats in 2003 and 2008, respectively. This time, however, it could win only four against the Congress’s tally of eight.
No Credible leader Senior Congress leaders rued the fact that the party failed to name a credible leader. The fear of a comeback by their former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi is said to have prevented people from voting for the party in larger numbers.
“If we had a face we would have done much better,” said a senior Congress leader.
With five BJP ministers losing their seats, there was a measure of anti-incumbency, but not enough to prevent Singh from winning again.
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