RAIPUR: The ruling Congress in Chhattisgarh won the Khairagarh Assembly by-poll on Wednesday. With this victory, the Congress continues its winning streak in the state. The party has now won all the four Assembly by-elections held since it came to power in 2018.
Congress candidate Yashoda Verma, who maintained the lead right from the beginning of counting, defeated her nearest rival, BJP's Komal Janghel, by a margin of 20173 votes.
The last three Assembly by-polls that the Congress won include Dantewada (September 2019), Chitrakot (October 2019) and Marwahi (November 2020). The total strength of the party has now risen to 71 in the 90-member Chhattisgarh House.
Political observers stated Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel's declaration that he will carve out a new district 'Khairagarh-Gandai-Chhuikhadan' within 24 hours if his party won the Khairagarh by-poll turned out to be a masterstroke.
According to highly-placed sources, with this victory, the state government will soon issue instructions to the officials to begin the process of inviting suggestions and objections ahead of the creation of the new district.
The Khairagarh seat in Rajnandgaon district had fallen vacant following the demise of the sitting Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) MLA Devvrat Singh, scion of the erstwhile royal family of Khairagarh, in November last year. The regional political outfit JCC (J) was floated by late ex-CM Ajit Jogi in 2016. The Congress party had come third in the 2018 Assembly elections after JCC(J) and BJP.
The results are seen as a setback for the opposition BJP as Rajnandgaon district is a stronghold of former BJP chief minister Raman Singh.
The opposition had left no stone unturned in its aggressive campaign with senior party leaders visiting each block and reaching right down to the booth level.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister Prahlad Patel too addressed public rallies in support of the BJP candidate.
Voting for the by-election was held on April 12. The voter turnout was 77.88 per cent.