RAIPUR : The ruling Congress in Chhattisgarh maintained its winning streak in bypolls and won the Khairagarh Assembly seat in Rajnandgaon district on Saturday. Party candidate Yoshoda Verma defeated her nearest rival, BJP’s Komal Janghel, by 20,173 votes. Congress has won all the four Assembly by-elections held since it came to power in 2018. It had won Dantewada in September 2019, Chitrakot in October 2019 and Marwahi Assembly seat in November 2020.
The latest victory has taken the party’s total strength in the 90-member Assembly to 71. The Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh are due next year. The Khairagarh seat fell vacant following the demise of the sitting Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) MLA Devvrat Singh in November last year. The party was floated by Ajit Jogi in 2016.
Political observers stated that Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s announcement to carve out a new district, ‘Khairagarh-Gandai-Chhuikhadan’, within 24 hours of winning the bypolls turned out to be a masterstroke that. Verma maintained the lead over her rival right from the time counting of votes began.
According to highly placed sources, the state government will soon issue instructions to officials to begin the process of inviting suggestions and objections ahead of creation of the new district. The result is a setback for the opposition BJP as Rajnandgaon district, in which Khairagarh falls, is a stronghold of former chief minister Raman Singh.
The party had left no stone unturned during the poll campaign with senior party leaders visiting each block and reaching right up to the booth level. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union minister Prahlad Patel had addressed public rallies in support of the BJP candidate. Voting for the bypoll was held on April 12.