Sonia, Rahul magic worked in Chattisgarh; Modi flops

The Congress did put up a tough fight in Chhattisgarh with candidates winning seats where party President Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul Gandhi, addressed election rallies.

The party’s strike rate was stupendous when it comes to winning seats where star campaigners addressed public meetings as its candidates won seven seats where the Gandhis drew crowds, but still fell short of seats to form the government.

BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi criss-crossed the state but was not entirely successful in turning the tide in favour of party candidates.

The BJP won Rajnandgaon, Jagdalpur and Raigarh seats where Modi had addressed public meetings. However, the credit for Rajnandgaon should go to Chief Minister Raman Singh, who has been winning the seat for the past three Assembly elections.
BJP candidate Roshan Lal won the Raigarh seat while Santosh Bafna emerged victorious in Jagdalpur, which falls in the Bastar region where Modi had addressed a rally. Rahul Gandhi addressed a rally in Jagdalpur but could not woo people to vote for party candidate Shamu Kashyap.

Modi’s star power was found wanting in the Bastar seat which was won by Lakeshwar Baghel of the Congress who defeated BJP’s Subhaoo Kashyap by a margin of 19,168 votes.

Rahul’s rallies proved lucky for Congress candidates Umesh Patel and Shanker Dhruwa who won from Kharsia and Kanker respectively. Patel is the son of late Pradesh Congress Committee chief Nandkumar Patel, who was killed in a Maoist attack in May which had wiped out the Congress leadership in the state.

Similarly, Sonia Gandhi addressed rallies in Kondagaon, Bhilai, Ambikapur and Kota. Congress candidates emerged victorious in three seats barring Bhilai which went to the BJP’s kitty.

Congress candidates Mohan Makram, T S Baba and Renu Jogi won from Kondagaon, Ambikapur and Kota respectively. Jogi is the wife of former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi. Incidentally, Jogi’s son, Amit, won from Marwahi which is adjoining Kota.

Modi addressed rallies in Korba and Bilha, which went to Congress candidates Jai Singh Agarwal and Siyaram Kaushik respectively.

Similarly, in Mahasmund, Modi had little effect as BJP rebel Vimal Chopra emerged victorious.

Sonia Gandhi addressed three rallies in Rajasthan – Sikar, Dungarpur and Pachpadra —but the Congress was decimated in the state with just 21 seats. Rahul also addressed a number of rallies in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi where he failed to make any significant impact.