Congress wins byelection to Chitrakoot seat

Bhopal: Congress has won the by-elections in Chitrakoot (ST) Assembly constituency under Bastar in Chhattisgarh, results of which were declared on Thursday.

Congress’ Razman Benzam won the by-poll by defeating his nearest BJP rival Lachuram Kashyap by a margin of 17,862 votes.

While Mr Benzam polled 62,097 votes, Mr Kashyap bagged 44,235 votes. Cong-ress has now in its kitty all the 12 assembly seats in Bastar, uprooting BJP in the tribal-dominated belt of Chhattisgarh.

Congress which returned to power in Chhattisgarh in 2018 assembly elections after a gap of 15 years has earlier won all the 14 assembly seats in tribal-dominated Sarguja region in the state.

“We have made Bastar-Sarguja free of BJP by winning Chitrakoot seat in the assembly by-election”, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said.