BJP expected to decimate Congress in Chhattisgarh: CNN-IBN survey

He’s had two terms as Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, but that is unlikely to affect Raman Singh’s prospects in the upcoming polls. According to the survey carried out by Lokniti and CSDS for CNN-IBN and The Week, the BJP is expected to decimate the Congress in the state. [caption id=“attachment_1198855” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Raman Singh is expected to romp to victory. AFP[/caption] The party could raise its vote share by 6 percent from 2008. This rise in vote share could mean that the party ends up with 61 to 71 seats when the results are declared,  significantly higher than the 50 seats it won in 2008, the survey said. After losing many of its state leaders in a Maoist attack in May, the Congress in the state has failed to gain any ground again with internal battles preventing it from launching a political campaign of any strength against the BJP. The Congress is expected to lose around 7 percent vote share and end up with around 16 to 24 seats from the 38 seats it won in the 2008 elections. Even the fact that the Congress lost many of its leaders during the May attack hasn’t really helped it attract any sympathy votes with a majority of the respondents (52 percent) unsure that it would decide how voters would cast their ballot.  The BSP, which also a presence in the state, is also not expected to make any major inroads and may win a seat or two but its unlikely given their vote share is not expected to rise. According to the survey, there’s been almost no sentiment of anti-incumbency in the state which has happy with the Raman Singh-government’s performance. Good governance is cited by many as a factor in Raman Singh’s favour, but it is the much praised Food Security Law enacted by the government that will ensure the party will not lose any support in the coming elections. It may also explain why the UPA government took lessons from it while coming out with their own version of it. Even when it comes to corruption and price rise, the Raman Singh government has managed to insulate itself from negative perception with a major chunk of the respondents of the view that the Centre was as responsible for it. A majority of the respondents (32 percent) who had BJP MLAs were satisfied with their performance while a majority who had Congress MLAs weren’t entirely satisfied with their work. Raman Singh’s own popularity has been on the rise since he became the chief minister and despite losing some support he’s still the most popular leader in the state. The Congress’ Ajit Jogi, who is the biggest leader the party has, in comparison has only seen his popularity dip with only about 14 percent of those polled inclined to see him return as the state’s chief minister. Most Congress supporters polled believe that the former chief minister has not received the respect he deserves and the Congress party’s love-hate relationship with the leader may explain the reason for the party’s dismal outlook for the state. Jogi may not be anywhere close to coming to power, but in the unlikely event that the Congress does win, he remains the face that most of the respondents want as the party’s chief ministerial candidate.