Bhupesh Bagel Wins By Nearly 20,000 Votes In Patan Constituency

Congress leader and chief minister Bhupesh Bagel won the patan assembly seat with a winning margin of 19723. Patan constituency witnessed one of the striking campaigns between the uncle and the nephew, Vijay Baghel. And this wasn”t the first time the Baghel”s has come face to face. The Bhupesh Baghel, the chief minister of Chhattisgarh contested against Vijay in the last three elections of 2003, 2008 and 2013. Since 1977, Patan has favoured Kurmi candidates owing to its significant Kurmi population. Kurmi is a subcaste that falls under OBC. Both the Congress and BJP candidate belongs to the Kurmi community.

The majority of the electorate belong to Sahu community, followed by the Kurmi and Satnami societies. Bhupesh Baghel has been contesting the Patan assembly seat since 1993 and had a winning streak till 2008 when Vijay Baghel defeated him with a margin of around 8000 votes. In the last 15 years, the state has faced six elections in which 2008 assembly and 2019 parliamentary election was only time when the BJP received more votes than the Congress in Patan. In both occasion Vijay Baghel was the candidate representing BJP. Despite the allegation of graft against chief minister which has found some resonance in his home turf, he is widely known for his good work in his constituency.

But BJP has staged a triumphant return to power in Chhattisgarh, contradicting the exit polls which predicted a sweep win for Congress. As per the Election Commission report, BJP has won 51 seats and Congress won 33 seats.