Chhattisgarh Election Results 2023: “Yes, But…”: Chhattisgarh Congress Leader Explains Tribal Vote Shift

New Delhi: 

TS Singh Deo, former Deputy Chief Minster of Chhattisgarh, agreed that while on the face of it, tribals of the state have shifted allegiance to the BJP, contributing to the Congress’s crushing defeat in the state, the fine print indicated something else. Citing vote share, he also contended that the Congress’s performance was not bad, the BJP just did better.

Of the 26 seats in Bastar and Sarguja districts in the tribal-dominated state, the Congress won only four from Bastar and none in Sarguja. The Congress, which won 25 ST-reserved seats in the 2018 assembly polls, managed to secure just 11 this time.

The BJP won 17 of the 29 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category — up from three. Overall, the party has won 54 of the state’s 90 seats, the Congress got only 35, down from the 68 they bagged in 2018.