Chhattisgarh bypoll: BJP Wins Raipur City South Assembly Seat

Raipur: The BJP retained its hold on the Raipur City South assembly seat on Saturday with its candidate Sunil Kumar Soni defeating his nearest rival, Akash Sharma of the Congress, by 46,167 votes.

It was believed that Congress might make its presence felt in this seat this time, as BJP strongman Brijmohan Agrawal was not in the fray, but the grand old party struggled to make inroads.

Soni polled 89,220 votes against Sharma's 43,053 votes.

"It was believed to be the Congress's best chance to breach this BJP's fortress in the absence of Agrawal from the fray. Political experts had predicted that it will be a neck-to-neck fight between the two parties in this seat, and even if the BJP wins, the victory margin will be low," political analyst R Krishna Das told PTI.

However, the results have shown that the BJP's strategy to bank on Agrawal's popularity among voters in Raipur South worked. Agrawal had extensively campaigned for Soni in the bypoll, and announced in gatherings that it was him and not Soni who was contesting the bypoll, he said.

Das attributed Congress's loss to poor ground presence in Raipur south, fielding a low-profile candidate who was not a known face in the constituency, and biggest of all, the inclination of people towards Hindutva and the saffron party.

The bypoll held in the constituency, located in Raipur district, on November 13 saw a voter turnout of 50.5 per cent.

With this victory, the BJP’s in the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly remained unchanged at 54. The current strength of Congress in the House is 35, and the Gondwana Gantantra Party has one MLA.

The BJP has never lost Raipur City South, an urban constituency that came into existence in 2008.

Agrawal has been winning from the area for three decades. The eight-term legislator has been unbeaten since 1990 in the assembly polls.

He nurtured his constituency well, staying in constant touch with his voters and willing to help in times of crisis.

The Congress's candidate, Kanhaiya Agrawal, a low-profile leader, gave a tough fight in the 2018 assembly polls and bagged 60,093 votes against Brijmohan, who got 77,589 votes but could not breach the fortress.

In the 2023 assembly election, Agrawal bagged 1,09,263 votes in the Raipur City South seat and won by the highest margin of 67,719 votes against his nearest rival from the Congress.

The BJP later fielded Agrawal in the Lok Sabha polls, and he was elected as an MP for the first time.

Soni, then sitting MP, was denied a ticket for Lok Sabha polls. According to political experts, Soni was fielded from the seat for the bypoll because of his closeness to Agrawal.

Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said the people of Raipur South have put their stamp of approval for the works done by his government in the last 11 months.

"The people of Raipur South have expressed their faith in the BJP and Modi ji's guarantee. Our government has tried to fulfil Modi's guarantee in the last 10-11 months. Whether it is giving Rs 1,000 per month to mothers and sisters under the Mahtari Vandan Yojana, a paddy bonus to farmers, or Ramlala Darshan Yojana, the work our government has done in the last 10-11 months, the people of Raipur South have put their stamp of approval on them, he said.

The Congress said the bypoll result was not to its expectation, but it has accepted the people's mandate.

"The result of the by-election was not as per the party's expectations, but leaders and workers fought the polls unitedly," said Sushil Anand Shukla, head of the state Congress communication wing.

"The Congress has never won Raipur City South assembly seat. In the last assembly election, it lost the seat by the highest number of votes. The result of by-elections usually comes in favour of the ruling party," he said, pointing out that when the party was in power in the state (2018-2023), it won five bypolls. 

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