Two-phase Chhattisgarh Assembly Election 2018 saw the Congress back to form the government. The grand old party won 68 seats in the 90-member Assembly while the BJP was restricted to 15.
The elections were held on November 12 and 20. In the first phase, 18 Assembly constituencies that come under 12 districts of Maoist-affected South Chhattisgarh went to polls, while in phase 2, voting was held in 72 constituencies of remaining 78 districts of North Chhattisgarh on November 20. The counting of votes was held on December 11 and results were announced on the same day. The elections saw a tough contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress, among other regional parties.
The Election Commission of India had announced the dates and schedule of the Chhattisgarh Assembly Election 2018 on October 6, 2018. For phase 1 and phase 2 polls, the notification was issued on October 16. The last date of filing the nominations for November 12 polls was October 23 while it was November 2 for the second phase polls.
The seats which went to polls in the first phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly Election 2018 are: Khairagarh, Dongargarh (SC), Rajnandgaon, Dongargarh, Khujji, Mohla-Manpur (ST), Antagarh (ST), Bhanupratappur (ST), Kanker (ST), Keshkal (ST), Kondagaon (ST), Narayanpur (ST), Bastar (ST), Jagdalpur, Chitrakot (ST), Dantewada (ST), Bijapur (ST) and Konta (ST).
The highest number of 30 candidates locked horns in the Rajnandgaon constituency, while the lowest number of five nominees fought it out in Bastar and Kondagaon seats each. A keenly-watched constituency was Rajnandgaon, where Chief Minister Raman Singh of the ruling BJP and Congress candidate Karuna Shukla, niece of former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, were in the fray.
Over 1,200 candidates fought it out for 90 seats in the Chhattisgarh Assembly polls. While 190 candidates battled it out in the first phase of polls, 1,101 nominees were in the fray for the second phase of the state elections. The BJP and Congress had announced candidates on all the 90 seats while, the JCC contested on 55 seats, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on 33 and CPI on 2.
The state had last gone to Assembly Election in 2013. Then, the BJP had won 49 seats, the Congress 39 and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and an Independent candidate had won one seat each.
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