The Congress has crossed the halfway mark in Chhattisgarh, show the very early trends, which are in line with the exit poll predictions which gave the grand old party a distinct edge over its national rival, the BJP.
At 9:20 am, the Congress was ahead in 54 seats, while the BJP was at 33 with postal ballots the first to be opened. The postal ballots account for a very small percentage of the total votes polled.
“The darkness has dispersed, the sun has risen, the lotus is about to bloom. All workers should stay connected with this counting process because BJP is coming,” tweeted Raman Singh, BJP veteran and former Chief Minister, in message to party workers as counting began.
Four exit polls expect the Congress to cross the majority mark of 46 (the Chhattisgarh Assembly has 90 seats) on its own, two more predict 42-44 and the remaining three give it more than 40 each.
Only two of nine exit polls give the BJP the haul of 46+ seats it needs to win the state.
The Congress is banking on the track record of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who re-built the party in the state after the 2013 Jhiram Ghati Maoist attack that decimated the top Congress leadership.
The elections were held in two phases on November 7 and 17. Voter turnout stood at 76.31 per cent, which was slightly lower than the 76.88 per cent recorded in the 2018 polls.
