As the counting of votes is underway in the world’s largest democracy, the latest trends suggest the return of a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government with a slightly comfortable majority.
According to the latest figures of the Election Commission of India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led NDA is leading in approximately 295 seats followed by the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) which is leading in around 234 seats.
However, amidst the tight contest at the national level, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Party is looking more than comfortable in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, where the party is slowly heading towards improving its tally from 2019 where it won 9 out of the 11 seats.
As per the latest trend, the BJP is leading on as many as 10 Lok Sabha seats of the state barring the high profile seat of Korba constituency, where the Indian National Congress (INC) candidate Jyotsana Charandas Mahant is ahead of the BJP candidate Saroj Pandey with a difference of around 19000 in a tightly fought contest. Mahant had also came victorious from the Korba seats in the general elections held in the year 2019,
However, barring the Korba seat, BJP candidates are reported to be leading from all the Lok Sabha constituencies, including the high profile seat of Bastar, where BJP candidate, Mahesh Kashyap is leading the tally with a difference of around 42000 votes against his rival Kawasi lakhma of INC.
In Rajnandgaon, another high profile seat of the state, where the INC has fielded the former Chief Minister of the state, Bhupesh Baghel, against the BJP’s candidate, Santosh Pandey, the former is trailing with around 43000 votes.
In Raipur Lok Sabha constituency, where the incumbent minister in the state government, Brijmohan Agarwal, is up against the INC candidate, Vikas Upadhyay, Agarwal has taken a massive lead of over two lakh votes.
Meanwhile, Rajendra Sahu, the INC candidate from the neighbouring Durg Lok Sabha constituency, is reported to be trailing with over 275,000 votes to BJP’s Vijay Baghel.
In the tribal-dominated Surguja constituency, where the BJP has fielded Chintamani Maharaj, who had only joined the saffron outfit a few months before the Lok Sabha polls, he is leading the tally with around 77000 votes.
In the Lok Sabha constituency of Bilaspur, the judicial capital of the state, INC candidate and heavyweight Devendra Yadav is trailing with over 64000 votes from BJP candidate Tokhan Sahu.
In the Scheduled Caste (SC) Reserve seat of Janjgir Champa, BJP candidate, Kamlesh jangade is reported to be leading the tally with over 55000 votes against the Congress candidate, Shiv Kumar Dahariya.
In Raigarh, another Scheduled Tribes (ST) reserved seat in the state, BJP candidate Radheshyam Rathiya is reportedly leading with a massive difference of over 2 lakh votes against the Congress candidate.
In the Other Backward Caste (OBC)-dominated seat of Mahasamund, where the INC has fielded its heavyweight and former Home Minister of the state, Tamradhwaj Sahu, against the BJP candidate Roop Kumar Chaudhary, Sahu is reported to be trailing by over 1 lakh votes.
Lastly, a close contest is being fought in the high-profile seat of Kanker, where the BJP has fielded Bhojraj Nag, a priest and a popular figure among the locals widely known for his stand against the illegal conversion in the area. As of now, Nag who is locking horns with INC candidate, Brijesh Thakur is leading the tally with around 6000 votes.
