# 2018 Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly election

The 2018 Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly election was held to elect members to the Legislative Assembly of the Indian State of Chhattisgarh. The election was held in two phases for a total of 90 seats; the first for 18 seats in South Chhattisgarh on 12 November 2018, and the second for the remaining 72 on 20 November.
The INC got a landslide victory winning 68 seats against the ruling BJP's 15 seats, and consequently formed the government after 15 years as opposition party. Incumbent Chief Minister Raman Singh resigned on 11 December, the day of counting and declaration of result, taking the responsibility for the defeat in the elections. Elected to the Assembly from Patan, INC leader Bhupesh Baghel took office on 17 December as the third Chief Minister of the State.

## Background

The tenure of Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly ends on 5 January 2019.

## Schedule

The Election Commission of India announced the election dates on 6 October 2018. It said the election would take place in two phases: phase one on 12 November in the left-wing extremism-affected areas that encompassed eighteen constituencies, and on 20 November in the remaining constituencies. The commission also announced that the Model Code of Conduct came into effect with the said announcement and that the results would be declared on 11 December.
| Event dates | Phase I | Phase II |
| Filing nominations | 16–23 October | 26 October–2 November |
| Scrutiny of nominations | 24 October | 3 November |
| Withdrawal of candidatures | 26 October | 5 November |
| Polling | 12 November | 20 November |
| Counting | 11 December | 11 December |

## Opinion polls

Opinion polls showed a tough competition between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC), but the alliance between Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) also showed similar numbers to that of the former two.
| Date | Polling agency | BJP | INC | Others | Lead |
| 9 November 2018 | ABP News- CSDS | 56 | 25 | 04 | 31 |
| 9 November 2018 | Cvoter | 43 | 41 | 07 | 2 |
| 2 November 2018 | ABP News- C Voter | 43 | 42 | 06 | 1 |
| 25 October 2018 | IndiaTV - CNX | 50 | 30 | 10 | 20 |
| 17 October 2018 | ABP News- C Voter | 40 | 47 | 3 | 7 |
| 10 October 2018 | News Nation | 46 | 39 | 5 | 7 |
| 9 October 2018 | TimesNow- Warroom Strategies | 47 | 33 | 10 | 14 |
| 14 August 2018 | ABP News- C Voter | 33 | 54 | 3 | 21 |
| 28 July 2018 | Spick Media | 36 | 53 | 1 | 17 |
| 3 April 2018 | IBC24 | 48 | 34 | 8 | 14 |
| Average as on 9 November 2018 | Average as on 9 November 2018 | 44 | 40 | 6 | 4 |

## Polling

According to the Election Commission of India, a total of 4,300 booths for the region's registered 1.62 million women and 1.55 million male voters were set up for the first phase of polls. The first phase of election, in 18 constituencies, saw a voter turnout of 76.42 per cent according to the commission, an increase from 75.06 per cent in 2013. This came despite calls from the Naxalites in the region to boycott the election. A total of 125,000 police and paramilitary personnel were posted across the 18 constituencies, which were spread over the Naxalism-affected districts such as Bastar, Kanker, Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Rajnandgaon. However, the polls saw two major disruptions. An improvised explosive device (IED) went off in Katekalyan, in Dantewada, before voting began. In Bijapur district, an encounter between Naxalites and the 204th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force's (CRPF) COBRA unit left 10 Naxalites killed and five CRPF personnel injured.
The campaigning ahead of the second phase concluded on 18 November. In an incident of another IED blast, three security personnel were killed that day in the Bheji and Elarmadgu villages of Sukma district. However, voting on 20 November went "peaceful and incident-free". A turnout of 76.34 per cent was reported by the commission, while updating the figures of the first phase to 76.39 per cent. The Commission set up 19,336 polling stations for this phase of polling.
Overall, a total of 76.35 percent was reported across the State, a minor drop from 77.40 percent in 2013. 38 constituencies, most of which fell primarily in rural areas, reported a turnout of more than 80 percent. Kurud reported the highest turnout at 88.99 percent, followed by Kharsiya at 86.81 percent, while Bijapur reported the lowest at 44.68 percent. Ahead of counting and the declaration of result on 11 December, 28 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces were posted to guard rooms were the EVMs were kept.

## Exit polls

Most of the exit polls predicted a "tight finish" between the BJP and the INC.
| Polling agency | BJP | INC | Others | Lead |
| CSDS – ABP News | 52 | 35 | 03 | 17 |
| CNX– Times Now | 46 | 35 | 09 | 11 |
| C Voter – Republic TV | 39 | 45 | 05 | 06 |
| News Nation | 40 | 44 | 06 | 04 |
| Jan Ki Baat– Republic TV | 44 | 40 | 06 | 04 |
| News 24-Pace Media | 39 | 48 | 03 | 9 |
| Axis My India – India Today | 26 | 60 | 04 | 24 |
| News X- NETA | 42 | 41 | 07 | 01 |
| Today's Chanakya | 36 | 50 | 04 | 14 |
| News 18- Surjit Bhalla | 46 | 37 | 07 | 09 |
| Poll of Polls | 41 | 44 | 05 | 03 |

## Results
### Seats and vote-share

The results gave the Indian National Congress a clear majority and differed from the trend shown by the Opinion and Exit polls. The BJPs count fell drastically, while the INC formed a majority Government. The seat and vote share was as follows -
Seats :
| Parties and coalitions | Parties and coalitions | Votes | % | ±pp | Won | +/− | % |
| | Indian National Congress (INC) | 6,143,880 | 43.0% | 2.71% | 68 | 29 | 75.6 |
| | Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) | 4,706,830 | 33.0% | 8.04% | 15 | 34 | 16.7 |
| | Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) | 1,086,514 | 7.6% | New | 5 | New | 5.5 |
| | Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) | 552,313 | 3.9% | 0.37% | 2 | 1 | 2.2 |
| | None of the Above (NOTA) | 282,588 | 2.0% | | | | |
| Total | Total | 1,42,76,255 | 100.00 | | 90 | ±0 | 100.0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 13,993,667 | 99.9 | | | | |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 14,242 | 0.1 | | | | |
| Votes cast / turnout | Votes cast / turnout | 14,290,497 | 76.88 | | | | |
| Abstentions | Abstentions | 4,298,023 | 23.12 | | | | |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | 18,588,520 | | | | | |

## Elected members

| # | Constituency | Winner | Winner | Winner | Winner | Runner-up | Runner-up | Runner-up | Runner-up | Margin |
| # | Constituency | Member | Party | Party | Votes | Candidate | Party | Party | Votes | Margin |
| Koriya District |||||||||||
| 1 | Bharatpur-Sonhat (ST) | Gulab Kamro | | INC | 51,732 | Champadevi Pawle | | BJP | 35,199 | 16,533 |
| 2 | Manendragarh | Dr. Vinay Jaiswal | | INC | 34,803 | Shyam Bihari Jaiswal | | BJP | 30,792 | 4,011 |
| 3 | Baikunthpur | Ambika Singh Deo | | INC | 48,885 | Bhaiyalal Rajwade | | BJP | 43,546 | 5,339 |
| Surajpur District |||||||||||
| 4 | Premnagar | Khelsai Singh | | INC | 66,475 | Vijay Pratap Singh | | BJP | 51,135 | 15,340 |
| 5 | Bhatgaon | Paras Nath Rajwade | | INC | 74,623 | Rajni Ravishankar Tripathi | | BJP | 58,889 | 15,734 |
| Balrampur District |||||||||||
| 6 | Pratappur (ST) | Dr. Premsai Singh Tekam | | INC | 90,148 | Ram Sewak Paikra | | BJP | 46,043 | 44,105 |
| 7 | Ramanujganj (ST) | Brihaspat Singh | | INC | 64,580 | Ramkishun Singh | | BJP | 31,664 | 32,916 |
| 8 | Samri (ST) | Chintamani Maharaj | | INC | 80,620 | Sidhnath Paikra | | BJP | 58,697 | 21,923 |
| Surguja District |||||||||||
| 9 | Lundra (ST) | Dr. Pritam Ram | | INC | 77,773 | Vijaynath Singh | | BJP | 55,594 | 22,179 |
| 10 | Ambikapur | T. S. Singh Deo | | INC | 100,439 | Anurag Singh Deo | | BJP | 60,815 | 39,624 |
| 11 | Sitapur (ST) | Amarjeet Bhagat | | INC | 86,670 | Prof. Gopal Ram | | BJP | 50,533 | 36,137 |
| Jashpur District |||||||||||
| 12 | Jashpur (ST) | Vinay Kumar Bhagat | | INC | 71,963 | Govind Ram Bhagat | | BJP | 63,937 | 8,026 |
| 13 | Kunkuri (ST) | U. D. Minj | | INC | 69,896 | Bharat Sai | | BJP | 65,603 | 4,293 |
| 14 | Pathalgaon (ST) | Rampukar Singh Thakur | | INC | 96,599 | Shivshankar Painkara | | BJP | 59,913 | 36,686 |
| Raigarh District |||||||||||
| 15 | Lailunga (ST) | Chakradhar Singh Sidar | | INC | 81,770 | Satyanand Rathiya | | BJP | 57,287 | 24,483 |
| 16 | Raigarh | Prakash Naik | | INC | 69,062 | Roshan Lal | | BJP | 54,482 | 14,580 |
| 17 | Sarangarh (SC) | Uttari Ganpat Jangde | | INC | 101,834 | Kera Bai Manahar | | BJP | 49,445 | 52,389 |
| 18 | Kharsia | Umesh Patel | | INC | 94,201 | O. P. Choudhary | | BJP | 77,234 | 16,967 |
| 19 | Dharamjaigarh (ST) | Laljeet Singh Rathia | | INC | 95,173 | Leenav Birju Rathia | | BJP | 54,838 | 40,335 |
| Korba District |||||||||||
| 20 | Rampur (ST) | Nanki Ram Kanwar | | BJP | 65,048 | Phool Singh Rathiya | | JCC | 46,873 | 18,175 |
| 21 | Korba | Jaisingh Agrawal | | INC | 70,119 | Vikas Mahto | | BJP | 58,313 | 11,806 |
| 22 | Katghora | Purushottam Kanwar | | INC | 59,227 | Lakhan Lal Dewangan | | BJP | 47,716 | 11,511 |
| 23 | Pali-Tanakhar (ST) | Mohit Ram | | INC | 66,971 | Hira Singh Markam | | GGP | 57,315 | 9,656 |
| Gaurela Pendra Marwahi District |||||||||||
| 24 | Marwahi (ST) | Ajit Jogi | | JCC | 74,041 | Archana Porte | | BJP | 27,579 | 46,462 |
| 25 | Kota | Renu Jogi | | JCC | 48,800 | Kashi Ram Sahu | | BJP | 45,774 | 3,026 |
| Mungeli District |||||||||||
| 26 | Lormi | Dharmjeet Singh Thakur | | JCC | 67,742 | Tokhan Sahu | | BJP | 42,189 | 25,553 |
| 27 | Mungeli (SC) | Punnulal Mohle | | BJP | 60,469 | Rakesh Patre | | INC | 51,982 | 8,487 |
| Bilaspur District |||||||||||
| 28 | Takhatpur | Rashmi Ashish Singh | | INC | 52,616 | Santosh Kaushik | | JCC | 49,625 | 2,991 |
| 29 | Bilha | Dharamlal Kaushik | | BJP | 84,431 | Rajendra Shukla | | INC | 57,907 | 26,524 |
| 30 | Bilaspur | Sailesh Pandey | | INC | 67,896 | Amar Agrawal | | BJP | 56,675 | 11,221 |
| 31 | Beltara | Rajnish Kumar Singh | | BJP | 49,601 | Rajendra Sahu | | INC | 43,342 | 6,259 |
| 32 | Masturi (SC) | Dr. Krishna Moorti Bandhi | | BJP | 67,950 | Jayendra Singh Patle | | BSP | 53,843 | 14,107 |
| Janjgir-Champa District |||||||||||
| 33 | Akaltara | Saurabh Singh | | BJP | 60,502 | Richa Jogi | | BSP | 58,648 | 1,854 |
| 34 | Janjgir-Champa | Narayan Chandel | | BJP | 54,040 | Motilal Dewangan | | INC | 49,852 | 4,188 |
| 35 | Sakti | Charan Das Mahant | | INC | 78,058 | Medha Ram Sahu | | BJP | 48,012 | 30,046 |
| 36 | Chandrapur | Ram Kumar Yadav | | INC | 51,717 | Gitanjali Patel | | BSP | 47,299 | 4,418 |
| 37 | Jaijaipur | Keshav Prasad Chandra | | BSP | 64,774 | Kailash Sahu | | BJP | 43,087 | 21,687 |
| 38 | Pamgarh (SC) | Indu Banjare | | BSP | 50,129 | Gorelal Barman | | INC | 47,068 | 3,061 |
| Mahasamund District |||||||||||
| 39 | Saraipali (SC) | Kismat Lal Nand | | INC | 100,302 | Shyam Tandi | | BJP | 48,014 | 52,288 |
| 40 | Basna | Devendra Bahadur Singh | | INC | 67,535 | Sampat Agrawal | | Independent | 50,027 | 17,508 |
| 41 | Khallari | Dwarikadhish Yadav | | INC | 96,108 | Monika Dilip Sahu | | BJP | 39,130 | 56,978 |
| 42 | Mahasamund | Vinod Sevan Lal Chandrakar | | INC | 49,356 | Poonam Chandrakar | | BJP | 26,290 | 23,066 |
| Baloda Bazar District |||||||||||
| 43 | Bilaigarh (SC) | Chandradev Prasad Rai | | INC | 71,936 | Shyam Kumar Tandan | | BSP | 62,089 | 9,847 |
| 44 | Kasdol | Shakuntala Sahu | | INC | 121,422 | Gaurishankar Agrawal | | BJP | 73,004 | 48,418 |
| 45 | Baloda Bazar | Pramod Kumar Sharma | | JCC | 65,251 | Janak Ram Verma | | INC | 63,122 | 2,129 |
| 46 | Bhatapara | Shivratan Sharma | | BJP | 63,399 | Sunil Maheshwari | | INC | 51,490 | 11,909 |
| Raipur District |||||||||||
| 47 | Dharsiwa | Anita Yogendra Sharma | | INC | 78,989 | Devji Bhai Patel | | BJP | 59,589 | 19,400 |
| 48 | Raipur City Gramin | Satyanarayan Sharma | | INC | 78,468 | Nand Kumar Sahu | | BJP | 68,015 | 10,453 |
| 49 | Raipur City West | Vikas Upadhyay | | INC | 76,359 | Rajesh Munat | | BJP | 64,147 | 12,212 |
| 50 | Raipur City North | Kuldeep Juneja | | INC | 59,843 | Shri Chand Sundrani | | BJP | 43,502 | 16,341 |
| 51 | Raipur City South | Brijmohan Agrawal | | BJP | 77,589 | Kanhaiya Agrawal | | INC | 60,093 | 17,496 |
| 52 | Arang (SC) | Dr. Shivkumar Dahariya | | INC | 69,900 | Sanjay Dhidhi | | BJP | 44,823 | 25,077 |
| 53 | Abhanpur | Dhanendra Sahu | | INC | 76,761 | Chandrashekhar Sahu | | BJP | 53,290 | 23,471 |
| Gariaband District |||||||||||
| 54 | Rajim | Amitesh Shukla | | INC | 99,041 | Santosh Upadhyay | | BJP | 40,909 | 58,132 |
| 55 | Bindrawagarh (ST) | Damarudhar Pujari | | BJP | 79,619 | Sanjay Netam | | INC | 69,189 | 10,430 |
| Dhamtari District |||||||||||
| 56 | Sihawa (ST) | Dr. Lakshmi Dhruw | | INC | 88,451 | Pinky Shivraj Shah | | BJP | 43,015 | 45,436 |
| 57 | Kurud | Ajay Chandrakar | | BJP | 72,922 | Neelam Chandrakar | | Independent | 60,605 | 12,317 |
| 58 | Dhamtari | Ranjana Dipendra Sahu | | BJP | 63,198 | Gurumukh Singh Hora | | INC | 62,734 | 464 |
| Balod District |||||||||||
| 59 | Sanjari-Balod | Sangeeta Sinha | | INC | 90,428 | Pawan Sahu | | BJP | 62,940 | 27,488 |
| 60 | Dondi Lohara (ST) | Anila Bhendia | | INC | 67,448 | Lal Mahendra Singh Tekam | | BJP | 34,345 | 33,103 |
| 61 | Gunderdehi | Kunwer Singh Nishad | | INC | 110,369 | Deepak Tarachand Sahu | | BJP | 54,975 | 55,394 |
| Durg District |||||||||||
| 62 | Patan | Bhupesh Baghel | | INC | 84,352 | Motilal Sahu | | BJP | 56,875 | 27,477 |
| 63 | Durg Gramin | Tamradhwaj Sahu | | INC | 76,208 | Jageshwar Sahu | | BJP | 49,096 | 27,112 |
| 64 | Durg City | Arun Vora | | INC | 64,981 | Chandrika Chandrakar | | BJP | 43,900 | 21,081 |
| 65 | Bhilai Nagar | Devendra Yadav | | INC | 51,044 | Prem Prakash Pandey | | BJP | 48,195 | 2,849 |
| 66 | Vaishali Nagar | Vidya Ratan Bhasin | | BJP | 72,920 | Badruddin Qureshi | | INC | 54,840 | 18,080 |
| 67 | Ahiwara (SC) | Guru Rudra Kumar | | INC | 88,735 | Rajmahant Sanwla Ram Dahre | | BJP | 57,048 | 31,687 |
| Bemetara District |||||||||||
| 68 | Saja | Ravindra Chaubey | | INC | 95,658 | Labhchand Bafna | | BJP | 64,123 | 31,535 |
| 69 | Bemetara | Ashish Kumar Chhabra | | INC | 74,914 | Awadhesh Singh Chandel | | BJP | 49,783 | 25,131 |
| 70 | Navagarh (SC) | Gurudayal Singh Banjare | | INC | 86,779 | Dayaldas Baghel | | BJP | 53,579 | 33,200 |
| Kabirdham District |||||||||||
| 71 | Pandariya | Mamta Chandrakar | | INC | 100,907 | Motiram Chandravanshi | | BJP | 64,420 | 36,487 |
| 72 | Kawardha | Akbar Bhai | | INC | 136,320 | Ashok Sahu | | BJP | 77,036 | 59,284 |
| Rajnandgaon District |||||||||||
| 73 | Khairagarh | Devwrat Singh | | JCC | 61,516 | Komal Janghel | | BJP | 60,646 | 870 |
| 74 | Dongargarh (SC) | Daleshwar Sahu | | INC | 86,949 | Sarojani Banjare | | BJP | 51,531 | 35,418 |
| 75 | Rajnandgaon | Dr. Raman Singh | | BJP | 80,589 | Karuna Shukla | | INC | 63,656 | 16,933 |
| 76 | Dongargaon | Bhuneshwar Shobharam Baghel | | INC | 84,581 | Madhusudan Yadav | | BJP | 65,498 | 19,083 |
| 77 | Khujji | Chhanni Chandu Sahu | | INC | 71,733 | Hirendra Kumar Sahu | | BJP | 44,236 | 27,497 |
| 78 | Mohla-Manpur (ST) | Indrashah Mandavi | | INC | 50,576 | Kanchan Mala Bhuarya | | BJP | 29,528 | 21,048 |
| Kanker District |||||||||||
| 79 | Antagarh (ST) | Anoop Nag | | INC | 57,061 | Vikram Usendi | | BJP | 43,647 | 13,414 |
| 80 | Bhanupratappur (ST) | Manoj Singh Mandavi | | INC | 72,520 | Deo Lal Dugga | | BJP | 45,827 | 26,693 |
| 81 | Kanker (ST) | Shishupal Shori | | INC | 69,053 | Hira Markam | | BJP | 49,249 | 19,804 |
| Kondagaon District |||||||||||
| 82 | Keshkal (ST) | Sant Ram Netam | | INC | 73,470 | Harishankar Netam | | BJP | 56,498 | 16,972 |
| 83 | Kondagaon (ST) | Mohan Markam | | INC | 61,582 | Lata Usendi | | BJP | 59,786 | 1,796 |
| Narayanpur District |||||||||||
| 84 | Narayanpur (ST) | Chandan Kashyap | | INC | 58,652 | Kedar Kashyap | | BJP | 56,005 | 2,647 |
| Bastar District |||||||||||
| 85 | Bastar (ST) | Lakheshwar Baghel | | INC | 74,378 | Dr. Subhau Kashyap | | BJP | 40,907 | 33,471 |
| 86 | Jagdalpur | Rekhchand Jain | | INC | 76,556 | Santosh Bafna | | BJP | 49,116 | 27,440 |
| 87 | Chitrakot (ST) | Deepak Baij | | INC | 62,616 | Lachhuram Kashyap | | BJP | 44,846 | 17,770 |
| Dantewada District |||||||||||
| 88 | Dantewada (ST) | Bhima Mandavi | | BJP | 37,990 | Devati Karma | | INC | 35,818 | 2,172 |
| Bijapur District |||||||||||
| 89 | Bijapur (ST) | Vikram Mandavi | | INC | 44,011 | Mahesh Gagda | | BJP | 22,427 | 21,584 |
| Sukma District |||||||||||
| 90 | Konta (ST) | Kawasi Lakhma | | INC | 31,933 | Dhaniram Barse | | BJP | 25,224 | 6,709 |