Daijiworld Media Network

Raipur, Dec 11: The Congress' fight for resurgence has been succesful in Chhattisgarh state assembly polls as it defeated the ruling BJP. It was a prestige battle for three-term Chief Minister Raman Singh of the BJP to retain the power.

Counting of votes had begun early in the morning in Chhattisgarh which voted under the cloud of Naxal violence. This time, the coalition between Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), former chief minister Ajit Jogi's Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and Communist Party of India (CPI) had added another dimension to the electoral politics of the state which had been dominated by the BJP and the Congress.

Several exit polls had predicted a neck-and-neck fight between the big two and some had projected victory for the Rahul Gandhi-led party. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was seeking a fourth straight term in office. The Congress aim to stage a comeback after being out of power for the last 15 years has been successful with this election. Tight security arrangements were made at the counting centres in all 27 districts, particularly the Naxal-affected ones, where voting was held in two phases on November 12 and 20 to elect a new 90-member Assembly.

The fate of 1269 contestants, including the chief minister, his 11 ministers and state presidents of the BJP and the Congress was decided in the polls.

On the eve of counting of votes, the BJP and the Congress claimed victory, while Jogi's outfit also expressed confidence of forming the next government.