Chhattisgarh Election Results 2018 News Updates: Congress Crosses Halfway Mark, Takes Lead on 66 Seats; BJP Lags Behind

Chhattisgarh Assembly election results will be out till evening.

Raipur: Counting of votes for Chhattisgarh Assembly Election will start at 8 am and results are likely to emerge by 9 am. The voting was held in two phases in the state. Security has been beefed up in the state. In the first phase, 18 Assembly constituencies that come under 12 districts of Maoist-affected South Chhattisgarh went to polls on November 12, while in phase 2, voting was held in 72 constituencies of remaining 78 districts of North Chhattisgarh on November 20.

According to the exit polls prediction for Chhattisgarh assembly, the majority mark is 46. While Times Now-CNX gave a simple majority to the BJP and ABP said the saffron party would fare way better than the Congress, India-Today Axis predicted that the Congress is set to end Chief Minister Raman Singh’s 15-year old reign by winning anywhere between 55-65 seats.

All the exit polls agreed that former chief minister Ajit Jogi’s Janta Congress Chhattisgarh and the BSP may get to play the kingmaker in case of a hung Assembly.

Eyeing a fourth consecutive term, the BJP has set a target of winning 65 plus seats in the 72-member Assembly, while the Congress is seeking to end its 15-year exile from power in the tribal-dominated state.

For the first time, the state will see a three-way battle between the BJP, the Congress and the coalition between the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), former chief minister Ajit Jogi’s Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and the Communist Party of India (CPI).

While Jogi is seen a kingmaker in the state where the vote share difference between the BJP and the Congress was less than one per cent in 2013, the former has denied possibilities of any post-poll alliance with the saffron party.

The BJP has retained state Assembly Speaker Gaurishankar Agrawal from the Kasdol seat, which he had won against Congress’ Rajkamal Singhaniya in the 2013 elections.