Road to Raipur goes via Bastar & Sarguja again?
RAIPUR: The multiple exit polls predicted a close fight between the Congress and the BJP with an edge to the former in Chhattisgarh where a two-phase election was held. While Times Now, Dainik Bhaskar, India TV-CNX, Republic TV-Matrize projected a majority for the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress, while India Today-Axis My India poll predicted that the Congress will have an upper hand over BJP in the 90-member Assembly. After the exit polls results, Baghel reiterated that the Congress would achieve its target of winning 75 seats. “The results will be better than what the exis polls projected in favour of the Congress,” he said
The BJP said that the sample size of the exit polls is usually limited. “I visited every corner across the 90 Assembly seats and interacted with party workers. Their feedback suggested that the BJP will form government in Chhattisgarh. PM Modi’s guarantee and failures of the Congress government will help the BJP get absolute majority,” stated Arun Sao, Chhattisgarh BJP president.
To what extent the poll manifesto of parties influenced the voters will be known only on the result day.
The north Chhattisgarh of Sarguja where the Congress had won all the 14 seats in the 2018 polls seems evenly poised. The BJP, which didn’t have a single MLA from the 12 assembly segments of Bastar zone, is projected to gain some seats.
It is widely believed that the gateway to power in Chhattisgarh is through tribal-dominated Bastar and Sarguja, both holding the key to the formation of the government.