Chhattisgarh 2023: BJP scripts stunning victory, Congress faces ED heat; Naxals strike big
BJP's triumph in the assembly polls, considered by many a foregone conclusion in favour of Congress, series of ED actions, including in the Mahadev betting app case, a deadly Naxal attack, and nude men protesting over jobs dominated the events in Chhattisgarh in 2023. Though elections were held at the end of the year, poll mood prevailed in Chhattisgarh throughout with top leaders of BJP, Congress and AAP making frequent visits to the state for rallies and meetings, and chalking out their strategies.
The BJP wrested power from the Congress in a decisive mandate after a high-octane campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the state with a large tribal population.
Vishnu Deo Sai, a prominent tribal face of the saffron party, became the new chief minister in December, while first-time BJP MLAs Arun Sao and Vijay Sharma were appointed as deputy CMs.
Amid increased focus on politics in an election year, Naxals killed ten policemen and a civilian driver on April 26 by blowing up an MUV in Dantewada district, their biggest strike on security forces in Chhattisgarh in two-and-a-half years.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) stepped up the heat on the Congress with raids on the premises of many of its leaders, businessmen and bureaucrats in the then Bhupesh Baghel government over alleged coal levy, liquor, and Mahadev online betting app scams.
In the two-phased polls in November, whose results were declared on December 3, the BJP won in 54 constituencies, marking its highest seat tally ever in the 90-member assembly and leaving the Congress in a considerably weaker position with only 35 seats.
The BJP crafted its narrative by weaving together corruption plank, Hindutva, a string of
