Chhattisgarh Assembly Election 2023

Chhattisgarh, which came into existence on November 1, 2000, after being carved out of Madhya Pradesh, is witnessing two round of voting on November 7 and November 17, while the counting of votes will take place on December 3. The nomination for the first phase of the Chattisgarh Assembly elections commenced on October 13, and for the second phase, it began on October 21. More than two crore persons -- comprising 1,01,20,380 male, 1,02,39,410 female and 790 transgenders -- are eligible to vote in the Assembly polls.

Notably, the first legislative assembly in Chhattisgarh was formed by the MLAs elected in the 1998 Madhya Pradesh legislative assembly elections. Since then, the state has witnessed four assembly polls - 2003, 2008, 2013, and 2018. The BJP won the first three assembly elections while the Congress party registered a massive victory in the 2018 assembly elections, grabbing 68 out of 90 seats. Congress's tally later increased to 71 by winning all assembly bypolls.

With 24,109 polling stations in 90 Assembly constituencies, the state has 29 reserved seats for Scheduled Tribes and 10 for Scheduled Castes. The Congress and the BJP are engaged in a direct fight while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are trying to make an impact on a few Assembly seats. In the 2018 assembly elections, Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP fought on 84 seats but lost the security deposit in all constituencies.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has expressed confidence that Congress will register victory on more than 75 seats, adding the fight here is one-sided; there is no competition Coming nearly six months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the assembly polls are crucial for both the BJP and Congress for various reasons.