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The political parties in Chhattisgarh fielded 72 sitting legislators and more than half of them lost the election.
Out of 90 legislators elected in 2008, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, opposition Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) fielded 72 legislators to contest the 2013 state polls. When the last report came in, more than 40 sitting legislators had lost the election.
Veteran Congress legislators Bodhram Kanwar, and Rampukar Singh had never lost the election. But they had to face the taste of defeat. Similarly, the Leader of Opposition, Ravindra Choubey lost the election from Saja—the seat that he had been representing for the last five terms.
Of the 12 ministers in the Raman Singh cabinet, five had lost the election paving way for the new comers to get a berth in the state cabinet. However, for chief minister Raman Singh, it would now be a difficult task to list out the possible.
The power BJP leaders including former Speaker Prem Prakash Pandey and minister Ajay Chandrakar had won the election. Both had lost the 2008 polls. They would be accommodated in the government.
But the real test for Singh would be to include the members from business community. Four new legislators from Agrawal community had won the election. They had been powerful enough to claim place in the cabinet.
The last cabinet had three Agrawals. And all the three had won the election comfortably.
