Chhattisgarh Patan Election Result 2023: CM Bhupesh Baghel steps down after BJP wins state polls

Chhattisgarh Patan Election Result 2023: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel resigned on Sunday, December 4, after his Indian National Congress (INC) lost control of the 90-seat Assembly to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), even as the Congress leader defeated BJP candidate and his distant nephew Vijay Baghel by 19,723 votes in Patan.

Bhupesh Baghel, who became the Chief Minister in the 2018 polls, emerged among the most formidable state-level leaders of the Congress during his five-year stint as Chief Minister of the state. With his welfare schemes, invocation of regional pride, and astute political skills, which helped him overcome challenges from within the party, he became the face of the Congress ahead of the 2023 assembly polls.

Baghel was made the Chhattisgarh unit chief of the Congress after the party lost assembly elections in the state for the third time in a row, in 2013. 

When the INC swept to power in 2018, Baghel won the race for the chief minister's post, leaving behind rivals like Singh Deo, Charan Das Mahant and Tamradhwaj Sahu.

In 2023, though the Congress did not declare any chief ministerial candidate, its campaign revolved around Bhupesh Baghel.

Baghel was born into a Kurmi farmer family in Durg district on August 23, 1961. The Kurmis, an influential OBC community, account for around 14 per cent of the state's population of around 2.5 crore. He entered politics in the 1980s and was first elected to the assembly of the then undivided Madhya Pradesh from Patan in 1993. He won the seat in 1998 as well as in 2003.

Catch the full list of winners in Chhattisgarh elections here

The fate of the candidates for the Patan Assembly seat in the Chhattisgarh elections was decided by an estimated 2,16,917 voters, out of which 1,07,695 were males and 1,09,222 females.

Voting for the Patan seat took place in two phases on November 7 and November 17.

With inputs from agencies

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