BJP wrests 2 Chhattisgarh Assembly seats

Soon after the party candidates were declared elected in the two Assembly bypolls, Dhul gaya Jogi dhul gaya charan, charo taraf hein kamal Raman, chanted the BJP workers amid bursting fire crackers in front of the Civil Lines residence of Chief Minister Raman Singh.

BJP candidates won the byelections in both Khairagarh and Malkharaoda Assembly constituencies on Tuesday. The election results have, analysts said, now ended the speculation of leadership issue as Raman Singh has proved to be an "able leader", who can swim against the tide. The party had lost two bypolls earlier, making it necessary for Singh to win these byelections.

Secondly, the election, analysts pointed out, has also blasted the myth of former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi who had, after Congress victory in the bypolls for Kota Assembly seat and Rajnandgaon parliamentary seat, come to occupy a larger than life size in so far as producing result in an election was concerned. "The BJP wrested Khairagarh from Congress and Malkharauda seat from BSP," a top BJP leader said while pointing out that the party had lost Kota seat last December as it always remained a stronghold of Congress and the defeat in Rajnandgaon was on account of former MP Pradeep Gandhi, who was caught on camera accepting bribe to ask a question in Parliament. Jogi not only campaigned in Khairagarh but also said Congress candidate Padmawati Singh was like his daughter-in-law. But it failed to work in the elections.

For the BJP, its victory in Khairagarh is sweeter than Malkharauda though the margin of victory here is more.

This is because here not only Jogi's myth has exploded but also the seat always remained with the Congress and was represented by the members of erstwhile "Royal Family". This myth also ended with the results.

Curiously, a member of this family and the then MLA from Khairagarh Devvart Singh led by a margin of about 14,000 votes in the recent Lok Sabha byelection for Rajnandgaon. But now his wife Padmawati Singh has lost within a couple of months in the same constituency by a margin of 16,000 votes, BJP leaders here pointed out.

"It is a victory of the people and development work being done by the State Government," Chief Minister Raman Singh told The Pioneer. He said that his Government was focusing on development work only rather than politicking over the "petty" issues, whatsoever.

The BJP defeated the Congress candidate by a margin of about 22,000 votes in Malkharauda. But the victory in Khairagarh, the BJP wrested the seat from all-time winner Congress, which won from here all along. With the victory in two Assembly constituencies, now the BJP has a strength of 53 MLAs in the 90-member State Assembly." The victory reflects the three-year performance of the State Government", BJP state unit chief Vishnudev Sai said.