Rooting for the BJP | Chhattisgarh

For the first time since it came into being in 2000, Chhattisgarh saw a Lok Sabha verdict at variance with the assembly poll result. In the three Lok Sabha elections that followed the assembly polls, the Chhattisgarh electorate extended its faith in the BJP to the Lok Sabha, giving the party 10 of the 11 Lok Sabha seats, in 2004, 2009 and 2014, leaving the Congress with just one seat each time. With the Congress winning the most comprehensive mandate (68 of the state's 90 seats) in December 2018 in the state's 18-year history, it was expecting to sweep the Lok Sabha poll. So, why did it fail?

The single biggest factor contributing to the BJP win is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity. It trumped all local issues-farm loan waiver, paddy procurement at enhanced prices, announcement of jobs by the state's Congress government. The Congress did better in South Chhattisgarh's tribal regions, winning Bastar and losing Kanker by small margins. It won Korba, but was swept aside by the Modi wave in the northern and central regions.

The BJP did something radical this general election in Chhattisgarh. It dropped all its 10 sitting MPs, including former CM Raman Singh's son Abhishek from Rajnandgaon, Union minister Vishnu Deo Sai from Raigarh and former Union minister Ramesh Bais from Raipur. This was done, say insiders in the state unit, to build an entirely new leadership in the state.

"It is a reaffirmation of PM Modi's politics and welfare schemes. The mandate the Congress secured in December has slipped out of its hands," said BJP state vice-president and newly elected BJP MP from Raipur Sunil Soni.

Chhattisgarh has numerous issues that it needs to work on with the Centre. Maoism, for one, has been rearing its head in the state after a lull and deployment of central paramilitary forces is a key aspect in this war. Secondly, central ministries, such as environment and mining, have to give a large number of permissions for development projects. Chhattisgarh also has a number of pending issues with neighbouring states which need to be mediated via the Centre. The state will also have a byelection in Dantewada where sitting BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi was killed by Maoists during the election. The outcome of the bypoll will indicate the extent to which the Congress has yielded ground to the BJP since the assembly election.