Chhattisgarh Elections 2023: 68.15% Voter Turnout Recorded in 2nd Phase; 'One-sided Fight, Says Baghel

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, after casting his vote, said that good news is coming from everywhere. “People are reaching the polling booth and exercising their voting rights. I appeal to those who are at home to cast their vote… Everywhere there is a one-sided environment, the trust is on Congress…” Baghel said.

According to the Election Commission of India, the approximate voter turnout in Chhattisgarh till 1 pm stood at 37.87 per cent.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel casts his vote at polling booth number 57 in Kurridih village.

The first phase of polling in 20 seats of Chhattisgarh assembly elections took place on November 7. The first phase of campaigning saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacking Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel over the alleged Mahadev betting app scam, while Congress has based its campaign on welfare schemes of the Baghel government.

Today, the second phase of polling in 70 seats is underway.

Congress’s Stand in Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh is the only state among the five where Congress sits comfortably in terms of its political equation, seat share and voters’ percentage tally in the last assembly election and the bypoll.

Steep Challenge for BJP BJP has announced a total of 90 candidates, of which 33 are from OBC (Other Backward Class), 30 from Scheduled Tribe (ST and 10 from Scheduled Caste (SC). BJP’s state chief Arun Sao told News18 that the election would be fought in the name of PM Modi and his development plank.

Key Issues: Corruption to Conversion Chhattisgarh is a melting pot of multiple issues, from allegations of facilitating ‘religious conversion’ to alleged corruption and the BJP is shaping its election campaign on all fronts.

State Demography Chhattisgarh, dominated by tribal population, consists of 90 assembly constituencies. Of the total 90 seats, 29 are reserved for STs while 10 seats are marked SC seats.

Full details here.

Polling is underway for 70 seats in Chhattisgarh. Meanwhile, Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge released the party’s manifesto for the upcoming Telangana elections.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has said that there is no competition against his party, he said that the fight is one-sided.

He said, “We are more than 75 seats… The fight here is one-sided, there is no competition…”

Collector Sarveshwar Narendra Bhure, talking about the all women team at the 201 polling booths in Raipur North said, “A unique combination is formed in our North assembly constituency that most of the polling parties are women. This initiative was brought about by women only that they’ll handle the Vidhan Sabha polling. When we started the training, there was an excitement amongst women…They are handling EVMs very smoothly.”

BJP MP Saroj Pandey casted her vote for the second and final phase of voting in the Chhattisgarh elections and said that this is a huge occasion for democracy. “Everybody should play their part in this. Each and every vote decides the direction of the state. I believe that this is the direction in the favour of the BJP…In the last five years, Chhattisgarh’s face has changed and its identity has been established as ‘Apradhgarh’ due to corruption…” she said.

Chhattisgarh deputy chief minister and Congress candidate from Ambikapur, TS Singh Deo casted his vote at a polling booth in Rajmohini Devi Girls College.

Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel’s son Chaitanya Baghel while iterating his confidence in the party said that “Congress is making the government.”

He said, “As our CM has said ’75 paar hoga’ so definitely ’75 paar hoga’… Since morning, I have gone to 50 booths… Workers are filled with energy.”

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s daughter Smriti Baghel said that this time campaigning felt different than last time. She said that this time instead of having to talk about policies as an opposition, people were telling her about their resolved issues. “That time we were in opposition, and we had to talk about our policies… This time when I went, people were only telling us, like they got half the electricity bill… Farmers are happy in Chhattisgarh… We will surely get their blessings,” she said.

Chhattisgarh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan casted his vote at a polling booth in Raipur and said that casting vote is the democractic right of every citizen of the country and that it leads to deciding what sort of government do the people want.

He said, “Casting vote is the democratic right of every citizen of the country. Democracy demands that all citizens should exercise their rights and by that they decide what sort of government they want in the state and at the Centre. We have come and cast our vote…”

The voter turnout in the second phase of assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, stood at 19.65 per cent at 11 am.

Congress leader and party candidate from Korba, Jai Singh Agarwal has casted his vote for the second and final phase of Chhattisgarh assembly elections.

Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia requested all voters to exercise their franchise in the second phase of Chhattisgarh elections.

He wrote, “Today is the second and last round of voting in Chhattisgarh assembly elections. I request all the voters of Chhattisgarh to ensure their participation in this great festival of democracy by exercising their franchise.”

As voting for the second phase of assembly polls in Chhattisgarh is underway, state deputy chief minister TS Singh Deo has mentioned ‘Operation Lotus’, saying that people are asking about this operation. “Who funds ‘operation Lotus’? The misuse and overuse of ED for political purposes. The ED has lost its credibility completely as an independent and fair enquiring agency,” Deo said.