Chhattisgarh Election 2023: Opinion poll predicts second term for Congress, BJP staring at another defeat

financialexpress.com:

Chhattisgarh Elections 2023 prediction: The Bharatiya Janata Party will need a miracle to return to power in Chhattisgarh with the Congress comfortably placed to retain power in the state, a new survey has found.

According to the ABP-Cvoter opinion poll for Chhattisgarh, the Congress is projected to win 48-54 seats with a vote share of 45.6 per cent while the BJP may finish short of a majority with 35 to 41 seats with a 41.1 per cent vote share. In the elections held in 2018, the Congress bagged a staggering 68 seats, bringing to an end the 15-year rule of the BJP.

Also Read: Chhattisgarh Assembly Election 2023: Will Congress come back to power? Know all poll details here

In the 2018 polls, the Congress had secured 43.1 per cent vote share while the BJP’s vote share stood at 33 per cent. The vote share projected for the Congress and BJP in the survey suggest an uptick of 2.5 per cent and 8.1 per cent for the Congress and BJP, respectively.

In terms of seats, the Congress may finish on the top but with a heavily reduced margin. The BJP, on the other hand, is looking at big gains from its tally of 15 seats in the 2018 elections, but still falling short of the magic figure of 46.

Also Read: Chhattisgarh Election 2023: Full list of BJP candidates and their constituencies

The survey’s findings also suggest a second straight term as Chief Minister for incumbent Bhupesh Baghel who appears to be far ahead in the race against former Chief Minister Raman Singh. Baghel emerged as the most favored candidate for the top post, securing a significant lead of more than 25 percentage points over his BJP counterpart.

While 48 per cent of the participants saw Baghel as the best choice as CM, only 25 per cent backed Singh, the former