2018 Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly election
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90 seats in the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly 46 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 18,545,819[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 76.88%  0.57 pp[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Election results (by Constituencies) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2018 Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly election was held to elect members to the Legislative Assembly of the Indian State of Chhattisgarh. The election was held in two phases for a total of 90 seats; the first for 18 seats in South Chhattisgarh was held on 12 November 2018, and the second for the remaining 72 were held on 20 November.[3]
The INC got a landslide victory winning 68 seats against the ruling BJP's 15 seats, and consequently formed the government after 15 years as opposition party.[4] Incumbent Chief Minister Raman Singh resigned on 11 December, the day of counting and declaration of result, "taking the responsibility for this defeat".[5] Elected to the Assembly from Patan, INC leader Bhupesh Baghel took office on 17 December as the third Chief Minister of the State.[6]
Background
The tenure of Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly ends on 5 January 2019.[7]
Schedule
The Election Commission of India announced the election dates on 6 October 2018. It said the election would take place in two phases: phase one on 12 November in the left-wing extremism-affected areas that encompassed eighteen constituencies, and on 20 November in the remaining constituencies. The Commission also announced that the Model Code of Conduct came into effect with the said announcement, and that the results would be declared on 11 December.[8]
| Event dates[9] | Phase I | Phase II |
|---|---|---|
| Filing nominations | 16–23 October | 26 October–2 November |
| Scrutiny of nominations | 24 October | 3 November |
| Withdrawal of candidatures | 26 October | 5 November |
| Polling | 12 November | 20 November |
| Counting | ||
Opinion polls
Opinion polls showed a tough competition between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC), but the alliance between Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) also showed similar numbers to that of the former two.
Polling
According to the Election Commission of India, a total of 4,300 booths for the region's registered 1.62 million women and 1.55 million male voters were set up for the first phase of polls. The first phase of election, in 18 constituencies, saw a voter turnout of 76.42 per cent according to the Commission, an increase from 75.06 per cent in 2013.[10] This came despite calls from the Naxalites in the region to boycott the election.[3] A total of 125,000 police and paramilitary personnel were posted across the 18 constituencies, which were spread over the Naxalism-affected districts such as Bastar, Kanker, Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Rajnandgaon.[11] However, the polls saw two major disruptions. An improvised explosive device (IED) went off in Katekalyan, in Dantewada, before voting began. In the Bijapur district, an encounter between the naxalites and the 204th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force's (CRPF) COBRA unit, left ten naxalites killed and five CRPF personnel injured.[3][12]
The campaigning ahead of the second phase concluded on 18 November.[13] In an incident of another IED blast, three security personnel were killed that day in the Bheji and Elarmadgu villages of Sukma district.[14] However, voting on 20 November went "peaceful and incident-free". A turnout of 76.34 per cent was reported by the Commission, while updating the figures of the first phase to 76.39 per cent.[15] The Commission set up 19,336 polling stations for this phase of polling.[2]
Overall, a total of 76.35 per cent was reported across the State, a minor drop from 77.40 per cent in 2013. 38 constituencies, most of which fell primarily in rural areas, reported a turnout of more than 80 per cent. Kurud reported the highest turnout at 88.99 per cent, followed by Kharsiya at 86.81 per cent, while Bijapur reported the lowest at 44.68 per cent.[15] Ahead of counting and the declaration of result on 11 December, 28 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces were posted to guard rooms were the EVMs were kept.[16]
Exit polls
Most of the exit polls predicted a "tight finish" between the BJP and the INC.[17]
Results
The seat and vote share was as follows -
| Parties and coalitions | Popular vote | Seats | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Won | +/− | % | |||
| bgcolor="Template:Indian National Congress/meta/color" | | Indian National Congress (INC) | 61,36,429 | 43.0% |  2.71%
|
68 | 29
|
75.6 | |
| bgcolor="Template:Bharatiya Janata Party/meta/color" | | Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) | 47,01,530 | 33.0% | 8.04%
|
15 | 34
|
16.7 | |
| bgcolor="Template:Janta Congress Chhattisgarh/meta/color" | | Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) | 10,81,760 | 7.6% | New | 5 | New | 5.5 | |
| bgcolor="Template:Bahujan Samaj Party/meta/color" | | Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) | 5,51,687 | 3.9% | 0.37%
|
2 | 1
|
2.2 | |
| bgcolor="Template:None of the Above/meta/color" | | None of the Above (NOTA) | 2,82,588 | 2.0% | |||||
| Total | 1,42,76,255 | 100.00 | 90 | ±0 | 100.0 | |||
| Valid votes | 1,39,93,667 | 99.9 | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 14,242 | 0.1 | ||||||
| Votes cast / turnout | 1,42,90,497 | 76.88 | ||||||
| Abstentions | 42,98,023 | 23.12 | ||||||
| Registered voters | 1,85,88,520 | |||||||
Elected members
See also
References
- ^ "Election Commission of India Press Note" (PDF). eci.nic.in. p. 3. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- ^ a b "Dip of 1.05% in voter turnout in Chhattisgarh compared to 2013: Election Commission data". Hindustan Times. Press Trust of India. 21 November 2018. Archived from the original on 26 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- ^ a b c Das, Shaswati (12 November 2018). "Chhattisgarh defies poll boycott by Naxals, records 70% turnout". Mint. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^ Singh, Dalip (12 December 2018). "Chhattisgarh elections: Congress ends 15-year drought with 68 seats, BJP gets 15". The Economic Times. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
- ^ "Chhattisgarh election results 2018: Raman Singh resigns as CM". Mint. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
- ^ "Bhupesh Baghel sworn in as Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh". The Hindu. Press Trust of India. 17 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
- ^ "Terms of the Houses". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
- ^ "Election dates for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana out, results on Dec 11". India Today. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^ "2018 Election to Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly". Election Commission of India. eci.nic.in. Archived from the original on 26 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- ^ "Chhattisgarh assembly polls: 71.93% voting recorded in second phase". Mint. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- ^ "Chhattisgarh election: First phase ends with 70% voting despite 2 Naxal attacks". India Today. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^ "Chhattisgarh elections: First phase sees 70% voter turnout amid sporadic Maoist violence". The Indian Express. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^ "Campaigning for Chhattisgarh second phase of polls concludes". The New Indian Express. Indo-Asian News Service. 18 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- ^ "Ahead of second phase of Chhattisgarh polls, three security personnel injured in IED blast in Sukma". The Indian Express. 18 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- ^ a b "EC reports 76.35% voter turnout in Chhattisgarh". The Hindu business Line. 21 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- ^ "76.35 per cent voting in Chhattisgarh Assembly polls". The Economic Times. Press Trust of India. 21 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- ^ "Chhattisgarh Exit Poll 2018: Poll of polls predicts 44 seats for Congress, 40 for BJP". The Times of India. 8 December 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.