The Congress is hoping to return to power this year as the Deepak Baij-led party unit goes into polls in two phases — November 7 and 17. Thanks to a claimed hit rate of nearly 95% in fulfilment of promises from the 2018 manifesto, the "josh" is quite high in the Bhupesh Baghel government. However, the BJP has claimed that the Congress government had failed to fulfil 19 of its 36 promises.
To its credit, as CM Baghel has mentioned in almost every poll rally, the Congress, during its five-year tenure, has moved leaps and bounds to fulfil the aspirations of women voters in the state.
What Congress Has In Its Favour
According to Congress leaders, the unemployment rate in Chhattisgarh has come down to 0.5% at present from 22% in 2017, when the Raman Singh government lost power. The Congress also claims that crimes against women have dropped by nearly 70% since the Baghel government took over the reins of the state. According to news agency IANS, a big deterrent for criminals has been the Congress government's initiative to launch an app to screen candidates applying for government jobs. If a candidate is found to have a record of crime against women, he would be barred from government jobs.
On the education front, the Congress claims that the Baghel government reopened around 3,000 schools closed by the previous BJP government. The Congress is also banking its hopes on the farming community as CM Baghel waived farm loans on the first day after assuming power.
Challenges Before Congress
The Congress is also facing several challenges in the upcoming election, the chief among them coming from its Lok Sabha poll ally — AAP. The Aam Aadmi Party has repeatedly accused the Bhupesh Baghel government of turning the state into a "hub of corruption" and has even sought his resignation.
The Chhattisgarh CM also hit out at the AAP last year when its Gujarat unit president Gopal Italia allegedly used derogatory remarks against PM Modi and his mother.
The Congress in Chhattisgarh faces a stiff challenge from the BJP and the AAP over the alleged Rs 2,000-crore liquor scam. Both AAP and BJP hit out at Bhupesh Baghel, accusing him of playing a pivotal role in the scam facilitated by illegal liquor production in the state-run industry. While the BJP sought Baghel's resignation, the AAP went as far as to demand his arrest.
The Congress also faces corruption allegations in fertilizer procurement, under the Godhan Nyay Yojana, and a coal levy scam, in which two party MLAs were named. The BJP, in a 104-page "charge sheet", also accused the Baghel government of executing a Rs 600-crore scam under the public distribution system and a Rs 5,000-crore scam, using the funds of the Centre-sponsored free grain distribution scheme.
Chhattisgarh, which lies on the Red Corridor, also has to deal with the problem of Naxalism, an issue every government has had to cope with. While the Baghel government has said that it is on its way to rooting out naxalism, the regular attacks on security personnel have done little to instil confidence in Congress.
Finally, factionalism within the Chhattisgarh Congress is something that the party will be wary of if it wins. A post-poll tension between CM Bhupesh Baghel and his deputy 'Maharaj' TS Singh Deo also cannot be ruled out like the last time. Earlier this year, TS Singh Deo had to contend himself with the Deputy CM's post after a rotational pact for the CM's chair, as had reportedly been agreed upon by the party high command, did not materialise. However, whether he thinks of going against Bhupesh Baghel, a heavyweight who has the support of the people, in case of a Congress win will be interesting to see.
What Voters Want Ahead Of Chhattisgarh Election 2023
Speaking of support, the fight this year is going to be a close one with the ABP-CVoter survey predicting a close contest between the BJP and the Congress. The opinion poll showed that out of the total 90 seats, the BJP is likely to secure 39-45 seats, while the ruling Congress is expected to win 45-51 seats. Others are projected to win only 0-2 seats.
According to the ABP-CVoter survey, the ruling Congress can gain over 45% vote share in an upswing of 2.2%, followed by the BJP at 43% in an upswing of over 10% vote share. Others are projected to secure 11% of votes, a decline of nearly 13% of votes. The ABP-CVoter survey also revealed that the top issues for voters will be inflation, unemployment, and law & order.
The survey also bolstered Baghel's confidence as 45% of the respondents voted for him to be the most favoured candidate for the CM's post. BJP's Raman Singh came in second with 26% of respondents in favour of him getting the post. T S Singh Deo, however, came in at a distant third with just 6% of the votes, followed by BJP's Saroj Pandey with 2% of the votes.