The vote share of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming assembly elections in Chhattisgarh is expected to rise by 8 per cent from the 2018 poll results, according to CVoter projections released on Friday by India Today. The survey suggests that Congress will also get a bump of 3 per cent in its vote share but lose seats to the BJP. Both BJP and Congress are likely to gain vote share at the cost of other parties, according to the India Today report.
In the 2018 assembly elections, Congress emerged as the clear winner, securing 68 seats out of the 90-seat assembly, a significant turnaround for the party which had been in the opposition for 15 years. While the Congress party secured 43 per cent vote share, the BJP received 33 per cent of the total votes polled. Other parties, including Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BJP), managed to get 24 per cent vote share. The 10 per cent gap between the Congress and the BJP resulted in a sweep for the grand old party, while the saffron party won in just 15 assembly constituencies.
The India Today-CVoter survey suggests that the BJP is likely to close the gap to 5 per cent, but despite that, the Congress party will comfortably cross the majority mark of 46. The Congress party is expected to secure 51 seats and the BJP 38 seats, according to the survey report.
Here’s what the India Today-CVoter projection suggests:
| Parties | 2018 seats | 2023 projection | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Congress | 68 | 51 | -17 |
| BJP | 15 | 38 | +23 |
| Others | 7 | 1 | -6 |
The Congress and BJP have intensified their campaign for the elections due by the year-end. Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was in Chhattisgarh earlier this week where he addressed the gathering during the launch of the Mukhyamantri Gramin Awas Nyay Yojana in Bilaspur district of poll-bound state. The Congress leader also launched 414 development and construction projects worth ₹669.69 crore for Bilaspur district. Later in the day, he travelled by train from Bilaspur district to the state capital Raipur and interacted with passengers on board.
