The Congress forming the next government in Chhattisgarh became a mere formality Tuesday as Chief Minister Raman Singh of BJP resigned, after his party's disappointing performance in the state Assembly polls.
Congress is leading in 64, while BJP was relegated to a distant second spot with 18 seats, as per latest trends available in 89 of the 90 seats in the House.
"I have submitted my resignation to Chhattisgarh Governor," Raman Singh told reporters.
He said he accepts responsibility for BJP's poll performance in Chhattisgarh, adding "we (party) will sit and introspect".
He refused to pass the buck on the BJP's national leadership over the setback after 15 years of the party's rule in the state.
"The election was solely contested on state agenda and it is not related to Delhi. We will sit with the party workers and analyse the defeat in detail."
"This will not reflect on the Lok Sabha election scheduled in 2019.The issues for Lok Sabha are different and election will be contested on those issues," he said.
"It is time to work in a new role for Chhattisgarh. We will work with full vigour," Singh said.
(With Inputs from PTI)
जब एक और एक मिलकर बनते हैं ग्यारह ...
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) December 11, 2018
तब बड़े-बड़ों की सत्ता हो जाती है नौ दो ग्यारह...
Congress workers celebrate in Raipur as trends show the party leading in #Chhattisgarh #AssemblyElections2018 pic.twitter.com/DmNTvetTAW
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
Former Chhattisgarh CM Ajit Jogi now leading by 10264 votes in his constituency and his wife Renu too leads by 2479 votes.
Congress leading on 53 seats, BJP leading on 16 seats, Janata Congress on four seats, and others on two seats in Chhattisgarh.
Saroj Pandey, BJP national general secretary & MP from Durg (Chhattisgarh): We can't say anything after only 1st round of counting. We hope to form the government in Chhattisgarh. It's a very close fight. #AssemblyElections2018 pic.twitter.com/ZQQt4fyeWR
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
Official ECI trends: Congress leading on 40 seats, BJP leading on 15 seats, Janata Congress on 5 seats in Chhattisgarh. #AssemblyElections2018 pic.twitter.com/2E2siBY5zV
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
#ChattisgarhElections2018 Congress takes a massive lead in BJP's fort, Chattisgarh. Live: https://t.co/WWiUqwfmVN #ResultswithTNIEhttps://t.co/dxbHM90SUb
— The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) December 11, 2018
Official ECI trends: Congress leading on 13 seats, BJP leading on 4 seats, Janata Congress on 1 seat in Chhattisgarh. #AssemblyElections2018 pic.twitter.com/XhHB2u4ZOF
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on #AssemblyElections2018 results: These are early trends. We hope to perform well. (File pic) pic.twitter.com/H4jel7L8wg
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
#Visuals of celebration from outside Congress office in Delhi. #AssemblyElections2018 pic.twitter.com/4bWIf5EN8I
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
As per latest trends, Congress is now leading in 58 out of 90 seats. Ruling BJP is second with 24. BSP and Ajit Yogi alliiance ahead at six constituencies.
According to official ECI trends, former Chhattisgarh CM Ajit Jogi is at third position at Marwahi. BJP is leading and Congress at second ( file pic) #ChhattisgarhAssemblyElections2018 pic.twitter.com/fhzR0IZIKl
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
Senior Chhattisgarh state tribal minister Kedar Kashyap too trailing in Narayanpur seat South Bastar.
Chhattisgarh initial trends: out of 78 seats, Congress leading in 55 seats, followed by BJP (16), BSP alliance leading in seats.
Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh leads by 45 votes in Rajnandgaon seat. He was earlier trailing against late PM and BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee's niece and Congress Candidate Karuna Shukla.
Kailash Vijayvargiya, BJP: We'll definitely form government in Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh. Seeing the early trends coming from Rajasthan, we believe BJP will form a government there as well. #AssemblyElections2018 pic.twitter.com/PUr9gnV4a6
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh trailing at Rajnandgaon constituency. Late PM and BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee's niece and Congress Candidate Karuna Shukla leading there.
As per latest trends, BJP leading at 19 seats. Congress leads at 14 constituencies. BSP-lead alliance ahead at three seats.
Firecrackers brought to Congress office in Delhi by party leader Jagdish Sharma as counting is underway for assembly elections in five states pic.twitter.com/vq5dZB2Gta
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
As per latest trends, ruling BJP is leading in three seats in Chhattisgarh. While Congress and BSP-led alliance leading in two constituencies each.
Congress workers perform 'hawan' outside Rahul Gandhi's residence in Delhi #AssemblyElections2018 pic.twitter.com/zkuKfW9T2T
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
Counting of votes for Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana begins #AssemblyElections2018 pic.twitter.com/tw0MrNEYj2
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
Visuals from outside a counting centre in Raipur. Counting of votes for #ChhattisgarhAssemblyElection2018 will start at 8 am today. pic.twitter.com/yxbCQnywhS
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
BJP:
Raman Singh (CM contesting from Rajnandgaon) Ram Dayal (Turncoat, joined BJP at the last minute, contesting from Pali Tankhar)
Congress:
TS Singh Deo (Leader of Opposition, contesting from Ambikapur) Karuna Shukla (Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee's niece, pitted by the Congress against Raman Singh)
JCC:
Ajit Jogi (Former CM contesting from Marwahi constituency) Renu Jogi (Ajit Jogi's wife, contesting from Kota) BSP Richa Jogi (Ajit Jogi's daughter-in-law from Akaltara)
Raman Singh, outgoing CM of #Chhattisgarh: We respect the mandate that the public has given. I congratulate Congress on this success. I consider it my luck to serve the public of Chhattisgarh for the last 15 years. #AssemblyElectionResults2018 pic.twitter.com/LPFjO9wgoD
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
We humbly accept the mandate by the people. They have not given us the right, they have given us a responsibility. They believed the promises we made in our manifesto. People trusted the words of Rahul Gandhi ji&gave us an agenda, we accept it: Congress leader PL Punia.
#ResultsWithTNIE | TNIE Chhattisgarh correspondent Ejaz Kaiser analyses the #ChhattisgarhElections2018 results. #AssemblyElections2018
— The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) December 11, 2018
LIVE report: https://t.co/8HrLHNqeBy pic.twitter.com/ZEtkMeAh5l
#ResultsWithTNIE | TNIE political editor @santwana99's take on the #AssemblyElections2018's results. #Results2018 pic.twitter.com/1hMcKKTPwr
— The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) December 11, 2018
Newly elected Congress MLAs of Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan will meet in Raipur and Jaipur respectively tomorrow.
Chhattisgarh Congress President Bhupesh Baghel arrives at Congress office in Raipur. He says, “Ppl of Chhattisgarh took the fight in their own hands. We are grateful to Rahul Gandhi, we fought for the ppl. We got more seats than expected, high command will decide who will be CM” pic.twitter.com/i5B8Js0gXR
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
Chhattisgarh: #Visuals from Bharatiya Janata Party office in Raipur. BJP is leading on 15 seats while Congress is leading on 61 seats, out of the total 90 seats in the state. #AssemblyElections2018 pic.twitter.com/AxmHnhvqHm
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
Sanjay Kakade, BJP Rajya Sabha MP: I knew we would lose in Rajasthan & Chhattisgarh but MP trends have come as a surprise. I think we forgot the issue of development that Modi took up in 2014. Ram Mandir, statues & name changing became the focus. #AssemblyElectionResults2018 pic.twitter.com/pHXe4PwhPr
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
#WATCH: Celebrations outside Congress office in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Congress is leading on 60 out of 90 seats in the state. #AssemblyElections2018 pic.twitter.com/8Bgf0Wu0Gv
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
With trends indicating a win for the Congress in Chhattisgarh, the former CM said on Tuesday that people chose the party because they found it the most viable alternative to the BJP. The Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) president told reporters that the people of the state wanted to oust the Raman Singh-led government, which has been in office for 15 years. Jogi, who was in the Congress before he floated his own party, said the assembly results would help his party emerge as a third front in the state.
Rajesh Munat was behind Congress' Vikas Upadhyay in Raipur City West Assembly seat.
Amar Agarwal was trailing behind Shailesh Pande of the Congress in Bilaspur segment.
Brij Mohan Agarwal was behind Congress' Kanhaiyya Agrawal in Raipur city south segment.
Minister Kedarnath Kashyap was closely behind Narayan Kashyap of the Congress in Narayanpur.
Dayal Das Baghel trailing behind Congress' Gurudayal Singh Banjare in Navagarh segment.
Mahesh Gagdha was also trailing behind Congress' Vikram Mandavi in Bijapur segment.
Prem Prakash Pandey was ahead of Congress candidate Devendra Yadav in Bhilainagar seat.
Lal Rajwade was leading over Ambika Singh Dev of the Congress in Bainkuthpur.
Semifinal proves that BJP is nowhere in all the states. This is a real democratic indication of 2019 final match. Ultimately, people are always the ‘man of the match’ of democracy. My congrats to the winners 3/3
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) December 11, 2018
