Legislative Assembly elections were held in Chhattisgarh in two phases on 7 November and 17 November 2023 to elect all 90 members of Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly. The votes were counted and the results declared on 3 December 2023.

Defying all pollsters and predictions, the BJP won an absolute majority with 54 seats, wresting power from the INC, which had won a landslide in 2018 but could win only 35 seats. This was also the BJP's biggest win in Chhattisgarh. On 13 December, BJP leader Vishnu Deo Sai took oath as the fourth chief minister of the state.

Background The tenure of the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on 3 January 2024. The previous assembly elections were held in November 2018. After the election, Indian National Congress formed the state government, with Bhupesh Baghel becoming Chief Minister.

Schedule

The schedule of the election was announced by the Election Commission of India on 9 October 2023.

Poll eventPhase IPhase IINotification date13 October 202321 October 2023Start of nomination13 October 202321 October 2023Last date for filing nomination20 October 202330 October 2023Scrutiny of nomination21 October 202331 October 2023Last date for withdrawal of nomination23 October 20232 November 2023Date of poll7 November 202317 November 2023Date of Counting of Votes3 December 20233 December 2023

Parties and alliances Source: Alliance/PartyFlagSymbolLeaderSeats contestedIndian National CongressBhupesh Baghel90Bharatiya Janata PartyArun Sao90rowspan="2" BSP+Bahujan Samaj PartyHemant Poyam58+190Gondwana Ganatantra PartyKuldeep Prajapati32Janta Congress ChhattisgarhAmit Jogi77 Aam Aadmi PartyKomal Hupendi53 Samajwadi Party22Communist Party of India12Communist Party of India (Marxist)3Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) 3Lok Janshakti Party144 REGISTERED (UNRECOGNISED) PARTIES308INDEPENDENT430

Candidates DistrictConstituencyINCBJPKoriya1Bharatpur-Sonhat (ST)Gulab Singh KamroRenuka Singh2ManendragarhRamesh SinghShyam Bihari Jaiswal3BaikunthpurAmbika Singh DeoBhaiyalal RajwadeSurajpur4PremnagarKhelsai SinghBhulan Singh Maravi5BhatgaonParas Nath RajwadeLaxmi RajwadeBalrampur6Pratappur (ST)Rajkumari MarawiShakuntala Singh Porthe7Ramanujganj (ST)Dr. Ajay TirkeyRamvichar Netam8Samri (ST)Vijay PaikaraUdeshwari PaikraSurguja9Lundra (ST)Dr. Pritam RamPraboj Bhinj10AmbikapurT. S. Singh DeoRajesh Agarwal11Sitapur (ST)Amarjeet BhagatRam Kumar ToppoJashpur12Jashpur (ST)Vinay Kumar BhagatRaimuni Bhagat13Kunkuri (ST)U D MinjVishnu Dev Sai14Pathalgaon (ST)Rampukar SinghGomati SaiRaigarh15Lailunga (ST)Vidyavati SidarSuniti Rathia16RaigarhPrakash Shakrajeet NaikO. P. Choudhary17Sarangarh (SC)Uttari JangdeShivkumari Chauhan18KharsiaUmesh PatelMahesh Sahu19Dharamjaigarh (ST)Laljeet Singh RathiyaHarishchandra RathiaKorba20Rampur (ST)Phool Singh RathiyaNankiram Kanwar21KorbaJai Singh AgrawalLakhan Lal Dewangan22KatghoraPurshottam KanwarPremchand Patel23Pali-Tanakhar (ST)Duleshwari SidarRamdaya UikeyGaurela Pendra Marwahi24Marwahi (ST)Dr. Krishna Kumar DhruwPranav Kumar Marpachhi25KotaAtal SrivastavPrabal Pratap Singh JudevMungeli26LormiThaneshwar SahuArun Sao27Mungeli (SC)Sanjit BanerjeePunnulal MohleBilaspur28TakhatpurDr. Rashmi Ashish SinghDharamjeet Singh Thakur29BilhaSiyaram KaushikDharamlal Kaushik30BilaspurShailesh PandeyAmar Agrawal31BeltaraVijay KesarwaniSushant Shukla32Masturi (SC)Dilip LahariyaKrishnamuti BandiJanjgir-Champa33AkaltaraRaghvendra SinghSaurabh Singh34Janjgir-ChampaVyas KashyapNarayan Chandel35SaktiCharan Das MahantKhilawan Sahu36ChandrapurRam Kumar YadavSanyogita Singh Judev37JaijaipurBaleshwar SahuKrishnakant Chandra38Pamgarh (SC)Sheshraj HarbansSantosh LahreMahasamund39Saraipali (SC)Chaturi NandSarla Kosaria40BasnaDevender Bahadur SinghSampat Agarwal41KhallariDwarikadhish YadavAlka Chandrakar42MahasamundDr. Rashmi ChandrakarYogeshwar Raju SinhaBaloda Bazar43Bilaigarh (SC)Kavita Pran LahreyDineshlal Jagade44KasdolSandeep SahuDhaniram Dhivar45Baloda BazarShailesh TrivediTank Ram Verma46BhataparaInder Kumar SaoShivratan SharmaRaipur47DharsiwaChhaya VermaAnuj Sharma48Raipur City GraminPankaj SharmaMotilal Sahu49Raipur City WestVikas UpadhyayRajesh Munat50Raipur City NorthKuldeep JunejaPurandar Mishra51Raipur City SouthMahant Ram Sundar DasBrijmohan Agrawal52Arang (SC)Shivkumar DahariyaGuru Khushwant Saheb53AbhanpurDhanendra SahuIndra Kumar SahuGariaband54RajimAmitesh Shukla Rohit Sahu55Bindrawagarh (ST)Janak Lal DhruvGovardhan Ram ManjhiDhamtari56Sihawa (ST)Ambika MarkamShrawan Markam57KurudTarini ChandrakarAjay Chandrakar58DhamtariOmkar SahuRanjana SahuBalod59Sanjari-BalodSangeeta SinhaRakesh Yadav60Dondi Lohara (ST)Anila BhediyaDevlal Halwa Thakur61GunderdehiKunwar Singh NishadVirendra SahuDurg62PatanBhupesh BaghelVijay Baghel63Durg GraminTamradhwaj SahuLalit Chandrakar64Durg CityArun VoraGajendra Yadav65Bhilai NagarDevender Singh YadavPrem Prakash Pandey66Vaishali NagarMukesh ChandrakarRikesh Sen67Ahiwara (SC)Nirmal KosareDoman KorsevadaBemetara68SajaRavindra ChoubeyIshwar Sahu69BemetaraAshish Kumar ChhabraDipesh Sahu70Navagarh (SC)Guru Rudra KumarDayaldas BaghelKabirdham71PandariyaNeelkanth ChandravanshiBhawna Bohra72KawardhaMohammad AkbarVijay SharmaRajnandgaon73KhairagarhYashoda VermaVikrant Singh74Dongargarh (SC)Harshita Swami BaghelVinod Khandekar75RajnandgaonGirish DevanganRaman Singh76DongargaonDaleshwar SahuBharat Verma77KhujjiBhola Ram SahuGeeta Ghasi Sahu78Mohla-Manpur (ST)Indrashah MandaviSanjeev SahaKanker79Antagarh (ST)Roop Singh PotaiVikram Usendi80Bhanupratappur (ST)Savitri MandaviGautam Uikey81Kanker (ST)Shankar DhurveAsharam NetamKondagaon82Keshkal (ST)Sant Ram NetamNeelkanth Tekam83Kondagaon (ST)Mohan MarkamLata UsendiNarayanpur84Narayanpur (ST)Chandan KashyapKedar Nath KashyapBastar85Bastar (ST)Lakheshwar BaghelManiram Kashyap86JagdalpurJitin JaiswalKiran Singh Deo87Chitrakot (ST)Deepak BaijVinayak GoyalDantewada88Dantewada (ST)Chavindra Mahendra KarmaChetaram AramiBijapur89Bijapur (ST)Vikram MandaviMahesh GagadaSukma90Konta (ST)Kawasi LakhmaSoyam Muka

Campaigns

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC) campaigned slogan using "Fir se Congress layenge" (will bring congress again). The party's manifesto promised to continue and expand its existing welfare schemes, such as the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana (RGKNY), which provides financial assistance to farmers, and the Narva, Garva, Ghurva, Badi Yojana, which is a rural development program.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who addressed rallies and public meetings across the state. Baghel highlighted the party's achievements in government, such as the implementation of the RGKNY, the reduction in poverty, and the improvement in law and order. He also promised to continue working for the development of the state if the INC was re-electedThe INC also targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition party in the state. Baghel accused the BJP of being anti-farmer and anti-poor, and of failing to develop the state when it was in power. He also criticized the BJP's central government for its policies, such as demonetization and GST, which he said had hurt the state's economy. The INC also targeted the BJP by using Adani in their campaign.

Manifesto

Bharatiya Janata Party The party's manifesto, titled "Modi's Guarantee for Chhattisgarh 2023," promised to create one lakh new jobs, provide free electricity to farmers, and increase the minimum support price for paddy to ₹3,100 per quintal. The BJP Chhattisgarh also promised to improve infrastructure, healthcare, and education in the state.

The BJP's campaign was led by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who addressed rallies across the state. Shah attacked the incumbent Congress government over alleged corruption, lawlessness, and the neglect of farmers and tribals. He also accused the Congress of promoting religious conversion and appeasement politics. Other senior BJP leaders who campaigned in Chhattisgarh included former Chief Minister Raman Singh, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, and party spokesperson Sambit Patra. They assured on the BJP's development record and the party's commitment to Hindutva.

The BJP also targeted the Congress government on the issue of Naxalism. The party alleged that the Congress was soft on Naxalites and that the state had witnessed an increase in Naxal violence in recent years.

Manifesto

Security concerns

Chhattisgarh has historicaly been part of India's red corridor, a hotspot for Naxalite–Maoist insurgency. To ensure a secure polling process, over 60,000 security personnel, mostly from the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) were deployed to 12 constituencies in the Bastar region. In total 20 constituencies saw the deployment of security forces.

In mid-afternoon on 7 November, the date of polling for the first phase, security personnel were injured in a gunfight in the southern villages of Tadmetla and Duled.

On 17 November, during the second phase of the elections, a Naxal IED blast occurred, resulting in the death of Indo-Tibetan Border Police Head Constable Joginder Singh when the Electronic Voting Machine was being returned to Gariaband from the polling stations of Bade and Gobra. The EVM was undamaged according to the Inspector-General of the Raipur Range, Arif Sheikh.

Surveys and polls Opinion polls +Seat sharePolling agencyDate publishedMarginof errorSample SizeMajority INC BJP OthersABP News-Matrize26 March 2023 ±3%27,00047-5234-391-5INCABP News-C-Voter20 August 2023 ±3–5%7,69648-5435-410-3INCABP News-CVoter9 October 2023±3–5%11,92845-5539-450-2HungABP News-CVoter4 November 2023±3–5%5,78245-5136-422-5Hung

+ Vote sharePolling agencyDate publishedMarginof errorSample SizeLead INC BJP OthersABP News-Matrize26 March 2023±3%27,00044%43%13%1%ABP News-CVoter20 August 2023±3–5%7,69646%41%13%5%ABP News-CVoter9 October 2023±3–5%11,92845.3%43.5%11.2%1.8%ABP News-CVoter4 November 2023±3–5%5,78244.8%42.7%12.5%2.1%

Exit polls Exit polls were released on 30 November 2023. All exit polls incorrectly predicted the Congress to win, or at least become the single largest party in a hung assembly. Thus the exit polls turned out to be a failure, as BJP won the election with clear majority.

Polling agencyMajorityINCBJPOthersIndia Today-Axis My India40-5036-461-5HungIndia TV-CNX46-5630-403-5INCTV9 Bharatvarsh-Polstrat 40-5035-450-3HungABP News-CVoter41-5336-480-3HungNews18-Today's Chanakya49-6525-410-3INCPeople's Insight23670BJPRepublic TV-Matrize44-5234-420-2HungDainik Bhaskar46-5535-450-10INCTimes Now-ETG48-5632-402-4INCJan Ki Baat42-5334-453HungPoll of Polls49383INCActual Results35541BJP

Results Results by party

+Source:PartyPopular voteSeatsVotes%±ppContestedWon+/−BJP7,234,96846.27 ▲13.309054 ▲ 39INC6,602,58642.23▼ 0.819035 ▼ 33BSP319,9032.05▼1.85580▼2Other parties858,5685.49▼ 2.115131▼4IND421,4302.70 ▼ 3.184300NOTA197,6781.26▼ 0.72Total15,634,933100% -118190-Vote statistics Valid votes15,634,93399.80Invalid votes31,6110.20Votes cast/ turnout15,666,54476.75Abstentions4,746,26323.25Registered voters20,412,807

Results by district +Source:DistrictSeatsBJPINCOthersManendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur2200Koriya1100Surajpur2200Balrampur3300Surguja3300Jashpur3300Raigarh3120Sarangarh-Bilaigarh3030Korba4211Gaurella-Pendra-Marwahi2110Mungeli2200Janjgir-Champa3030Sakti3030Bilaspur5410Mahasamund4220Baloda Bazar3120Raipur7700Gariaband2110Dhamtari3120Balod3030Durg6420Bemetara3300Kabirdham2200Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai1010Rajnandgaon4130Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki1010Kanker3210Kondagaon2200Narayanpur1100Bastar3210Dantewada1100Bijapur1010Sukma1010Total9054351

Results by constituency