Bhupesh Baghel Narrowly Loses Rajnandgaon Battle to BJP's Santosh Pandey

Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel lost the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat to BJP MP Santosh Pandey, reducing the victory margin to 44,411 votes. Baghel secured 46.18% of the votes, compared to Pandey's 49.25%. In the previous election, Pandey had a higher victory margin and more votes. Baghel had also lost in 2004 and 2009 from different seats.

In a closely fought contest, Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel faced a narrow defeat against BJP's sitting MP Santosh Pandey in the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat of Chhattisgarh. Despite losing, Baghel succeeded in reducing the saffron party's victory margin to 44,411 votes.

Pandey, who had previously triumphed with a more substantial margin, received 49.25% of the total votes this time, a slight decrease from his 2019 tally of 50.65%. Baghel, former chief minister, garnered 46.18% of the votes, an improvement from Congress' 2019 performance in the constituency.

This latest result marks another electoral setback for Baghel, who had also lost Lok Sabha polls in 2004 and 2009 from the Durg and Raipur seats respectively.

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