Son Killed In Lynching, Father Defeats Seven-Time Congress MLA From Chhattisgarh's Saja Seat

The BJP has returned to power in Chhattisgarh after five years of Congress rule ending the Bhupesh Baghel government's dream of a second straight term. The BJP has won 54 seats while the Congress has won 35 seats. The state saw several close contests and some giant killers as well with the former Deputy CM TS Singh Deo losing to BJP's Rajesh Agrawal by just 94 votes. However, another bigger upset took place in the Bemetara district of Chhattisgarh.

In the Bemetara district, a significant turnaround was witnessed in the Saja legislative assembly seat. Ishwar Sahu from the BJP and Ravindra Chaube from the Congress were fielded as candidates for the contested seat. Ishwar Sahu defeated Ravindra Chaube, a seven-time Congress MLA, by 5196 votes.

BJP gave a ticket to Ishwar Sahu after his son was killed in a mob lynching. The BJP accused the Congress government of siding with the culprits. "He is Eshwar Sahu, a labour, now a BJP MLA in Chattisgarh. We fielded him, after his son was killed by a Muslim mob, and the Congress chose to side with the murderers. Today, he defeated Ravindra Choubey, a 7 time Congress MLA! He won’t get his son back but some closure perhaps," said BJP leader Amit Malviya, sharing a photo of Sahu.

He is Eshwar Sahu, a labour, now a BJP MLA in Chattisgarh. We fielded him, after his son was killed by a Muslim mob, and the Congress chose to side with the murderers. Today, he defeated Ravindra Choubey, a 7 time Congress MLA!
He won’t get his son back but some closure perhaps… pic.twitter.com/NqpENwRBED — Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) December 3, 2023

BJP fielded Ishwar Sahu in the electoral fray by granting him a ticket. Ishwar Sahu emerged victorious against Congress stalwart MLA Ravindra Chaube. Sahu got 101789 votes while Chaube received 96593 votes.

There was an 83.19% voter turnout in the Saja legislative assembly seat. Previously, in 2018, this seat witnessed a 79.8% voter turnout. In the 2018 assembly elections, Congress' Ravindra Chaube had defeated BJP candidate Labhchand Bafna by a margin of 17.6% votes.