Congress Wins Khairagarh Assembly Bypoll In Chhattisgarh

The ruling Congress in Chhattisgarh on Saturday won byelection to the Khairagarh assembly constituency in Rajnandgaon district and maintained its winning streak in bypolls in the state.

After the result came, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said his government would keep the promise of making Khairagarh a separate district.

Congress' Yashoda Verma won the election by a margin of 20,176 votes against her nearest rival Komal Janghel of the BJP, a poll official said. Verma got 87,879 votes while Janghel secured 67,703 votes, he said.

Narendra Soni, the nominee of the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J), could get only 1,222 votes, less than the NOTA (none of the above) option which bagged 2,616.

Byelection was held on April 12 following the death of incumbent JCC (J) MLA and former MP Devvrat Singh in November 2021.

With the victory, the strength of Congress in the 90-member Assembly went up to 71. The opposition BJP suffered a fourth successive defeat at the hands of Congress in assembly bypolls held after the 2018 elections in the state.

In 2018, Congress swept the elections winning 68 out of 90 seats while the BJP won 15. The JCC (J) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) contested the poll in alliance and bagged five and two seats, respectively.

In 2019, Congress won bypolls to Dantewada (won by the BJP in 2018) and Chitrakot assembly constituencies. The byelection to Chitrakot was necessitated after Congress MLA Dipak Baij was elected as MP.

In 2020, Congress won Marwahi seat in the byelection after the death of former chief minister and sitting MLA Ajit Jogi.

The current strength of the BJP in the state assembly is 14. JCC(J)'s tally is reduced to three.

Chief Minister Baghel said the victory showed that people continue to repose faith in his government's policies and schemes.

Speaking to reporters at his official residence in Raipur, Baghel said, “Congress was in the third place in Khairagarh in 2018. But this time we have got around 50,000 more votes. We have not only bridged the gap but also clinched victory by a significant margin. Of ten candidates in the fray, eight have lost their deposits." The party's victory in four byelections in the three years since he became Chief Minister was the "public approval of our welfare schemes and policies," he said.

Mr Baghel also said that his government's promise to carve out a separate district of Khairagarh could be one of the factors contributing to the victory, but the BJP government, which formed nine new districts, won in only one of them in 2018 elections.

Congress had promised to make Khairagarh a district within 24 hours of the bypoll result if it won.

The Chief Minister said the promise will be kept fully.

State BJP president Vishnu Seo Sai said his party "accepts and respects the mandate" and "we congratulate the winner.” But he also accused Congress of "openly misusing" the administration during the election, and said it was the victory of "Congress's gimmicks and immoral propaganda.” Congratulating Congress, the JCC (J) in its statement said the party respects the people's mandate.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)