The BJP on Sunday was on course to wrest power from Congress in Chhattisgarh, winning 34 seats and leading in 20 of the 90 assembly seats, while the grand old party tottered, bagging 20 seats and was ahead in 15 seats, as per the latest information available with the Election Commission.

The promises made by the BJP, which it promoted as ‘Modi ki Guarantee 2023’, seemed to have worked in its favour in the tribal-dominated state, where it is poised to win a thumping majority.

In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress had registered a landslide victory largely because of a “strong” anti-incumbency against the then BJP dispensation and the grand old party’s promise of freebies and welfare measures.

The BJP this time made populist promises in its manifesto, titled ‘Modi ki Guarantee 2023’ for Chhattisgarh. They included procurement of 21 quintals of paddy per acre at Rs 3,100 per quintal, and annual financial assistance of Rs 12,000 to married women under the ‘Mahtari Vandan Yojana’.

Expressing gratitude to the "janta janardhan" for choosing the BJP in Chhattisgarh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the results "indicate that the people of India are firmly with politics of good governance and development".

Union minister Amit Shah said, "Tribal, poor, farmer sisters and brothers of Chhattisgarh have expressed faith in PM Modi and blessed BJP with a huge majority." Ahead of the state assembly elections, held in two phases on November 7 and 17, the Congress party was a divided house in Chhattisgarh but it tried to gloss over the differences by elevating state minister T S Singh Deo, the main challenger to CM Bhupesh Baghel, as the Deputy Chief Minister in June this year.

The BJP, on the other hand, went into the elections without a clear candidate for the CM’s post.

In the 2018 elections, Congress had ended BJP’s 15-year run to come to power, and Bhupesh Baghel became the CM.

In the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly, the Congress has 71 members, BJP 13, JCC (J) 3 and BSP 2 while one seat is lying vacant.

Counting of votes in elections to the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly started at 8 am on Sunday, with security personnel maintaining a strict vigil in counting centres in the state's 33 districts, including those affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE), a poll official said.

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