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
Seat Allotment
Alliance/PartyFlagSymbolLeaderSeats contestedIndian National CongressBhupesh Baghel90Bharatiya Janata PartyRaman Singh90rowspan="2" JJP+Janta Congress ChhattisgarhAmit Jogi57 90+3Bahujan Samaj PartyHemant Poyam 33+3
Candidates District No. ConstituencyINCBJPJCC + BSP Party Candidate Party Candidate Party Candidate Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur1Bharatpur-Sonhat (ST)Gulab KamroChampadevi PawleKrishana Prasad Cherva2ManendragarhDr. Vinay JaiswalShyam Bihari JaiswalLakhan Lal Shrivastava Koriya3BaikunthpurAmbica Singh DeoBhaiyalal RajwadeBihari Lal Rajwade Surajpur4PremnagarKhel Sai SinghVijay Pratap SinghPankaj Tiwari5BhatgaonParas Nath RajwadeRajni Ravishankar TripathiSurendra Choudhary Balrampur6Pratappur (ST)Dr. Premsai Singh TekamRamsewak PaikraDr. Narendra Pratap Singh7Ramanujganj (ST)Brihaspat SinghRamkishun SinghMohan Singh8Samri (ST)Chintamani MahrajSidhnath PaikraMitkoo Bhagat Surguja9Lundra (ST)Dr. Pritam Ram (E)Vijaynath SinghMaya Bhagat10AmbikapurT. S. Baba (E)Anurag Singh DeoSita Ram Das11Sitapur (ST)Amarjeet Bhagat (E)Professor Gopal RamSetram Bara Jashpur12Jashpur (ST)Vinay Kumar BhagatGovind Ram BhagatGaganmati Bhagat13Kunkuri (ST)U. D. MinjBharat SaiBenjamin Minj14Pathalgaon (ST)Rampukar Singh ThakurShivshankar PainkaraM. S. Painkara Raigarh15Lailunga (ST)Chakradhar Singh SidarSatyanand RathiyaHridya Ram Rathiya16RaigarhPrakash Shakrajeet NaikRoshanlalVibhas Singh Thakur17Sarangarh (SC)Uttari Ganpat JangdeKera Bai ManaharArvind Khatker18KharsiaUmesh PatelOp ChoudharyNarayan Sidar19Dharamjaigarh (ST)Laljeet Singh RathiaLeenav Birju RathiaSantram Rathia Korba20Rampur (ST)Shyam Lal KanwarNanki Ram KanwarPhool Singh Rathiya21KorbaJaisingh AgrawalVikas MahtoRam Singh Agrawal22KatghoraPurushottam KanwarLakhanlal DewanganGovind Singh Rajput23Pali-Tanakhar (ST)Mohit RamUike RamdyalTapeshwar Singh Maravi Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi24Marwahi (ST)Gulab Singh RajArchana PorteAjit Jogi25KotaVibhor SinghKashi Ram SahuRenu Ajit Jogi Mungeli26LormiShatruhan (Sonu) ChandrakarTokhan SahuDharmjeet Singh27Mungeli (SC)Rakesh PatrePunnulal MohaleChandrabhan Barmate Bilaspur28TakhatpurRashmi Ashish SinghHarshita PandeySantosh Kaushik (Guruji)29BilhaRajendra ShuklaDharam Lal KaushikSiyaram Kaushik30BilaspurShailesh PandeyAmar AgrawalBrijesh Sahu31BeltaraRajendra Sahu (Dabbu)Rajnish Kumar SinghAnil Tah32Masturi (SC)Dilip LahariyaDr. Krishna Murti BandhiJayendra Singh Patle Janjgir–Champa33AkaltaraChunnilal SahuSaurabh SinghRicha Jogi34Janjgir-ChampaMotilal DewanganNarayan ChandelByas Narayan Kashyap35SaktiCharan Das MahantMedha Ram SahuGautam Rathore36ChandrapurRam Kumar YadavBahu Rani Sanyogita Singh JudevGitanjali Patel37JaijaipurAnil Kumar ChandraKailash SahuKeshav Prasad Chandra38Pamgarh (SC)Gorelal BarmanAmbesh JangreIndu Banjare Mahasamund39Saraipali (SC)Kismat Lal NandShyam TandiChhabilal Ratre40BasnaDevendra Bahadur SinghDurgacharan (D.C.) PatelTrilochan Nayak Lungiwala41KhallariDwarikadhish YadavMonika Dilip SahuParesh Bagbahara42MahasamundVinod Sevan Lal ChandrakarPoonam ChandrakarTribhuwan Mahilang Baloda Bazar43Bilaigarh (SC)Chandradev Prasad RaiDr. Sanam JangdeFulmani Tandan 44KasdolShakuntala SahuGaurishankar AgrawalParmeshwar Yadu45BalodabazarJanak Ram VermaTesu Lal DhurandharPramod Kumar Sharma46BhataparaSunil MaheshwariShivratan SharmaChaitram Sahu Raipur47DharsiwaAnita Yogendra SharmaDevji Bhai PatelPanna Lal Sahu48Raipur City GraminSatyanarayan SharmaNand Kumar SahuDr. Omprakash Dewangan49Raipur City WestVikas UpadhyayRajesh MunatBhojraj Gaurkhede50Raipur City NorthKuldeep JunejaShri Chand SundraniAmar Gidwani51Raipur City SouthKanhaiya AgrawalBrijmohan AgrawalUmesh Das Manikpuri52Arang (SC)Dr. Shivkumar DahariyaSanjay DhidhiSanjay Chelak53AbhanpurDhanendra SahuChandrashekhar SahuDayaram Nishad Gariaband54RajimAmitesh ShuklaSantosh UpadhyayRohit Sahu55Bindranawagarh (ST)Sanjay NetamDamarudhar PujariDevendra Thakur Dhamtari56Sihawa (ST)Dr. Lakshmi DhruwPinky Shivraj ShahShantanu Som57KurudLaxmikanta SahuAjay ChandrakarKanhaiya Lal Sahu58DhamtariGurumukh Singh HoraRanjana Dipendra SahuDigvijay Singh Kridutt Balod59Sanjari BalodSangeeta SinhaPawan SahuArjun Hirwani60Dondi Lohara (ST)Anila BhendiaLal Mahendra Singh TekamRajesh Churendra61GunderdehiKunwer Singh NishadDeepak Tarachand SahuRajendra Kumar Rai Durg62PatanBhupesh BaghelMotilal SahuShakuntala Sahu63Durg GraminTamradhwaj SahuJageshwar SahuDr. Balmukund Dewangan64Durg CityArun VoraChandrika ChandrakarPratap Madhyani65Bhilai NagarDevendra YadavPrem Prakash PandeyDeenanath Jaiswar66Vaishali NagarBadruddin QureshiVidya Ratan BhasinManoj Kumar67Ahiwara (SC)Guru Rudra KumarRajmahant Sanwla Ram DahreDr. Shobha Ram Banjare Bemetara68SajaRavindra ChaubeLabhchand BafnaTeksingh Chandel69BemetaraAshish Kumar ChhabraAwadhesh Singh ChandelYogesh Tiwari70Navagarh (SC)Gurudayal Singh BanjareDayaldas BaghelOmprakash Batchpayi Kabirdham71PandariyaMamta ChandrakarMotiram ChandravanshiChaitram Raj72KawardhaAkbar BhaiAshok SahuAgam Das Anant Rajnandgaon73KhairagarhGirwar JanghelKomal JanghelDevwrat Singh74Dongargarh (SC)Bhuneshwar Shobharam BaghelSarojani BanjareMishri Lal Markande75RajnandgaonKaruna ShuklaDr. Raman SinghDeepak Yadav76DongargaonDaleshwar SahuMadhusudan YadavAshok Verma77KhujjiChhanni Chandu SahuHirendra Kumar SahuJarnail Singh Bhatiya78Mohala-Manpur (ST)Indrashah MandaviKanchan Mala BhuaryaSanjeet Thakur Kanker79Antagarh (ST)Anoop NagVikram UsendiHemant Poyam80Bhanupratappur (ST)Manoj Singh MandaviDeo Lal DuggaManak Darpatti81Kanker (ST)Shishupal ShoriHira MarkamRamsahay Korram Kondagaon82Keshkal (ST)Sant Ram NetamHarishankar NetamJugalkishor Bodh83Kondagaon (ST)Mohan MarkamLata UsendiNarendra Netam Narayanpur84Narayanpur (ST)Chandan Kashyap 'E'Kedar KashyapBaliram Kachlam Bastar85Bastar (ST)Baghel Lakheshwar [E]Dr. Subhau KashyapSonsay Kashyap86JagdalpurRekhchand Jain [E]Santosh BafnaAmit Pandey87Chitrakot (ST)Deepak Baij [E]Lachhuram KashyapTankeshwar Bhardwaj Dantewada88Dantewara (ST)Devati KarmaBhima MandaviKeshav Netam Bijapur89Bijapur (ST)Vikram MandaviMahesh GagdaChandraiya Sakni Sukma90Konta (ST)Kawasi LakhmaDhaniram BarseBudhram Kartami
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.
DatePolling agencyBJP INCOthersLead9 November 2018ABP News- CSDS562504319 November 2018Cvoter43410722 November 2018ABP News- C Voter434206125 October 2018IndiaTV - CNX5030102017 October 2018ABP News- C Voter40473710 October 2018News Nation4639579 October 2018TimesNow- Warroom Strategies4733101414 August 2018ABP News- C Voter335432128 July 2018Spick Media36531173 April 2018IBC244834814 Average as on 9 November 2018444064
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 agencyBJP INCOthersLeadCSDS – ABP News52350317 CNX– Times Now46350911C Voter – Republic TV39450506 News Nation40440604 Jan Ki Baat– Republic TV44400604 News 24-Pace Media3948039 Axis My India – India Today26600424News X- NETA42410701Today's Chanakya36500414News 18- Surjit Bhalla46370709 Poll of Polls41440503
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 -
Parties and coalitionsPopular voteSeatsVotes%±ppWon+/−% Indian National Congress (INC) 6,143,88043.0%2.71%68 2975.6Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)4,706,83033.0%8.04%15 3416.7Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) 1,086,514 7.6%New5 New5.5Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)552,3133.9%0.37%2 12.2None of the Above (NOTA)282,5882.0%Total1,42,76,255100.0090±0100.0Valid votes13,993,66799.9Invalid votes14,2420.1Votes cast / turnout14,290,49776.88Abstentions 4,298,02323.12Registered voters18,588,520
Elected members