As the results for the Chhattisgarh Assembly trickled in, it appeared that the Ajit Jogi and Mayawati’s gamble had hurt the BJP more than the Congress.
Jogi – the first chief minister of the state from 2000 to 2003 and the Congress’s face in the state – is now the head of the newly formed Janata Congress Chattisgarh (JCC). The JCC was was leading in four seats in the northern part of the state and one in the central part of the state on Tuesday morning.
The stakes couldn’t be higher in a state, where the margin of victory has constantly shrunk in the past. In 2003, for instance, BJP had a vote share of 39.3%, with Congress trailing behind with a margin of just 2.6%. In 2008, the BJP had a vote share of 40.33% and the Congress had secured 38.63%, the margin at just 1.7%. Meanwhile, in 2013, the BJP secured 41.04% and the Congress at 40.29%, with the margin at just 0.75%.
Although Jogi reserved his vitriol for the BJP maintaining that he would never “talk against the Nehru-Gandhi family”, both parties remained wary of the Mayawati-Jogi tie up in the state.
The alliance between Jogi, Mayawati and Left Parties was initially expected to eat into the Congress’s votes, but as campaigning intensified, the BJP camp also appeared worried.
At 8am, chief minister Raman Singh said, "At each centre our workers are present. The BJP will win. The celebrations will be done by the people."
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