The congress has not won consecutive elections in the same state in over two decades, the last time it successfully defended a government was Madhya Pradesh in 1993 and 1998, when Digvijaya Singh was chief minister and it defeated the BJP and won 174 and 172 of the 230 seats. That unwelcome streak can come to an end today with victory in Chhattisgarh where early trends have given Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s congress government is in the lead.

The Congress’s score may not be as impressive as the 68 in 2018, but if the party does retain Chhattisgarh it will be a big boost ahead of the next year’s Lok Sabha elections. And if CM Baghel is sworn in for a second term, it will be despite a last minute controversy. Allegations of corruption four days before the elections – posed a threat to the Congress campaign.

The allegations were made after the Enforcement Directorate, which the opposition says is used by the BJP to target rivals before elections. They also arrested a hawala courier with Rs 5 crore. The courier named Baghel as one of those receiving kickbacks from an illegal online gaming app.

A week after the second and final phase of elections the courier retracted the allegation. Away from the corruption allegation the Congress’s re-election campaign was built on a pro poor and pro farmer platform which included Baghel’s price support guarantee for rice, a scheme to purchase cow dung for Rs 2 per kg, and the promise of loan waivers.

Baghel came in support of OBC voters. This was a total of 40% of the state population to plot a rebirth of the Congress in 2018, after the 2013 Maoist attack and wiped out its state leadership. In the 2023 election Congress chief minister changed tracks. He claimed improvements in infrastructure development, increased support for farmers, who constitute by some estimates, a massive 90 % of Chattisgarh’s population.   

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said he was confident the BJP will win with huge majority in Rajasthan ahead of counting of votes in Rajasthan. He said the fight today is between the massive governance of Prime minister Narendra Modi and the misgovernance of the Congress party.

The Congress party will try to return to power again. The BJP’s election campaign will be focused on an anti incumbency wave in the state. Rathore said the fact that people of the state had come out in large numbers to vote meant that they wanted to bring a change. According to exit polls the BJP have a slight edge over the ruling Congress party in Rajasthan. He said there won’t be a close contest and the BJP will win the elections with a vast majority.

Rajyavardhan Rathore said the party leadership will announce who will be the chief minister after the results have been declared. He said everything comes at the right time. He said once the results are out the party leadership will take the decision at the right time.

The campaign has been intense on both sides. The BJP had pulled all stops in line with an established election template as senior ministers had been deployed and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Congress had followed a grassroots campaign with frequent appearances by its central leaders.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot said he was confident that he had beaten the jinx on the fortunes of the party in power. The BJP rode high on the trend and the power of brand Modi. Eight of the nine exit polls gave the BJP a comfortable, if not a strong victory. The aggregrate indicated that the BJP may get 104 seats and Congress 86. But like the difference in the price of cooking gas they are offering- The Congress party – Rs 500 and the BJP’s Rs 450: the gap is marginal.

The Enforcement Directorate recently conducted raids against two former Punjab forest ministers and Congress leaders Sadhu Singh Dharamsot and Sangat Singh Giljian and others in relation to an alleged forest-scam linked money laundering investigation.  

Issuing a statement on Friday, the Enforcement Directorate said that its investigation pertains to charges of bribery in the state forest department against the issuance of a permit for tree felling and for transfer and posting in the department, among some other allegations. 

The ED raids were carried out on November 30 in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi at the residential premises of Dharamsot, Giljian, their associates, forest officers and some private individuals. The agency reportedly searched fourteen locations under the provision of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Congress leader Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, has been a five-time MLA and he was arrested earlier this year by the Punjab Vigilance bureau as part of a case linked to alleged possession of disproportionate assets. In his three-year tenure as forest minister, Dharamsot collected ₹1 crore in lieu of issuance of permits for cutting khair trees through his OSD. Sangat Singh Giljian has been an MLA from the Urmar seat in Hoshiarpur district.

The Enforcement Directorate said that the money laundering case was filed under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and stems from an FIR of the Punjab Vigilance Bureau.

The nodal agency mentioned that the first information report pertains to alleged irregularities in the forest department and allegations of taking bribes by the concerned ministers and officers of the department against the issuance of permits for felling of Khair trees, transfer/posting in the department, issuance of NOC from the department and purchase of tree guards.

In addition, the Enforcement Directorate asserted that during the search operations, various incriminating documents, mobile phones/digital devices have been seized which, prima facie, reveal suspicious transactions involving persons who are under investigation.