The 2023 count in Ramanujganj (ST) produced a clear result: Ramvichar Netam of the BJP won with 99,574 votes, while Dr. Ajay Kumar Tirkey of the INC finished second with 69,911. The winning margin was 29,663 votes. Neelam Didi of the AAP was third with 1,879 votes and NOTA recorded 3,501. Election Commission records list 218,543 electors and turnout at 83.98%. The five-year comparison matters because the 2018 winner was Brihaspat Singh of the INC, making 2023 a change in the winning party.
The margin that separated winner and runner-up
At the centre of the result were the 99,574 votes polled by Ramvichar Netam and the 69,911 received by Dr. Ajay Kumar Tirkey. Their separation of 29,663 votes decided the seat. Using the turnout and electorate as a broad denominator, about 183,532 voters participated; the winner’s total is roughly 54.3% of that base and the runner-up’s about 38.1%. The certified candidate totals, rather than these calculated percentages, remain the primary result figures.
The third-place vote added another layer
The third-place number adds another layer. Neelam Didi received 1,879 votes, about 1.0% of the approximate turnout base. That does not establish where those voters would have gone in a different contest, but it does show that the 2023 result cannot be reduced to only the top two candidates. The third-place vote was a real and measurable part of the constituency’s count.
2018 vs 2023: how the result changed in five years
In 2018, Brihaspat Singh of the INC won Ramanujganj (ST) with 64,580 votes and Ramkishun Singh of the BJP was runner-up with 31,664. The margin then was 32,916 votes. By 2023, the margin stood at 29,663. Placing the two elections side by side therefore shows changes in the leading candidates, the volume of votes and the distance between first and second place.
What changed at party level
The party outcome also changed: the INC held the seat after the 2018 count, while the BJP won it in 2023. The official result cannot by itself establish a single cause for that shift, but it does establish the change in representation and the new vote distribution. That is the most defensible way to describe the five-year movement in Ramanujganj (ST).
Turnout and the size of the electorate
Turnout provides the scale around those numbers. With 218,543 electors and 83.98% turnout, roughly 183,532 people voted. Turnout alone does not identify which party benefited, but it shows the size of the electorate within which a margin of 29,663 votes was produced.
The official NOTA count
NOTA received 3,501 votes. It is recorded as a separate option and should not be reassigned to any candidate in a hypothetical calculation. For the historical result, the decisive figures remain the candidate totals and the certified margin between first and second place.
Three numbers that define the constituency result
For Ramanujganj (ST), in Balrampur-Ramanujganj district, the result is best understood through three candidate totals: Ramvichar Netam at 99,574, Dr. Ajay Kumar Tirkey at 69,911 and Neelam Didi at 1,879. Set beside the 2018 Brihaspat Singh versus Ramkishun Singh contest, these figures provide a straightforward account of how the seat’s electoral order changed over five years. Claims about caste, community or booth-level behaviour would require separate evidence and are not inferred from the aggregate result.
A fixed 2023 baseline for later comparisons
The 2023 result is a historical record, not a forecast. Any later comparison can return to the same fixed baseline: winner 99,574, runner-up 69,911, third candidate 1,879, NOTA 3,501, turnout 83.98% and margin 29,663.
2018 vs 2023 Result Comparison
| Year | Winner | Party | Votes | Runner-up | Party | Votes | Margin |
| 2018 | Brihaspat Singh | INC | 64,580 | Ramkishun Singh | BJP | 31,664 | 32,916 |
| 2023 | Ramvichar Netam | BJP | 99,574 | Dr. Ajay Kumar Tirkey | INC | 69,911 | 29,663 |
The statewide backdrop to the constituency result
Across the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly in 2023, the BJP won 54 seats, the Congress 35 and the Gondwana Gantantra Party one. Election Commission party-performance data records 7,234,968 votes for the BJP and 6,602,586 for the Congress statewide. Ramanujganj (ST) was one part of that larger election, but its constituency result had its own count: Ramvichar Netam of the BJP led with 99,574 votes and Dr. Ajay Kumar Tirkey of the INC followed with 69,911. Statewide seat totals do not substitute for constituency-level evidence; the seat result is determined by the votes recorded in Ramanujganj (ST).
From the 2018 backdrop to the 2023 count
In the 2018 Chhattisgarh Assembly election, Congress won 68 seats and the BJP 15. In Ramanujganj (ST), Brihaspat Singh of the INC won that year with 64,580 votes, while Ramkishun Singh of the BJP was second with 31,664. Five years later, the statewide balance of seats changed and the constituency produced a fresh count. The comparison establishes what changed in the official record; it does not by itself explain voter motives or prove a single cause for the shift.
Vote totals across 2018 and 2023
Putting the leading totals side by side sharpens the story. The 2018 winner, Brihaspat Singh, had 64,580 votes; the 2023 winner, Ramvichar Netam, recorded 99,574. The 2018 runner-up, Ramkishun Singh, had 31,664, compared with 69,911 for 2023 runner-up Dr. Ajay Kumar Tirkey. These are not direct “vote transfers” because candidates, electorate size, turnout and campaign conditions can change. They are, however, certified totals that show how the numerical shape of the contest moved from one election to the next, including a margin that changed from 32,916 to 29,663 votes.
The story told by the winning margin
The 29,663-vote margin is the central distance in the 2023 result. It was produced within an electorate of 218,543 and turnout of 83.98%. The 2018 margin had been 32,916 votes. A larger or smaller margin is a factual description of the distance between first and second place, not a standalone measure of political strength. Explaining why a margin changed would require campaign, booth-level or survey evidence beyond the aggregate result.
Third place and the votes outside the top two
Neelam Didi received 1,879 votes and NOTA 3,501, showing that the Ramanujganj (ST) count extended beyond the two leading candidates. The third-place total was smaller than the winning margin. That comparison helps describe the structure of the result, but it does not imply that those votes belonged to either leading candidate in a hypothetical two-way contest. The certified result records each choice separately, and this article keeps those categories separate.
The 2023 timeline from polling to counting
Ramanujganj (ST) was among the Chhattisgarh constituencies that voted on 17 November 2023, with counting and declaration of results on 3 December. Votes cast through EVMs and eligible postal ballots formed the final official count. Against turnout of 83.98% and an electorate of 218,543, Ramvichar Netam reached 99,574 votes, Dr. Ajay Kumar Tirkey finished on 69,911, and the distance between them settled at 29,663. Once the result was declared, those figures became the constituency’s certified 2023 electoral record and the basis for any later historical comparison.
Votes recorded beyond the top two candidates
The winner and runner-up together received 169,485 votes. Against approximate participation of 183,532, a substantial part of the count was therefore recorded outside the top two as well, including 1,879 for Neelam Didi, 3,501 for NOTA and votes for other candidates. This matters because the constituency was not a ballot containing only two choices. Those votes cannot be reassigned to one side after the fact; each candidate and NOTA was a separate choice in the certified count, and the final ranking reflects those actual choices.
How representation changed between 2018 and 2023
Brihaspat Singh was elected from Ramanujganj (ST) in 2018; Ramvichar Netam won in 2023. The five-year comparison is more than a change of names because the scale of the vote also moved. The 2018 winner had 64,580 votes and the runner-up 31,664, while the leading 2023 totals were 99,574 and 69,911. The margin changed from 32,916 to 29,663. That makes 2023 a new reference point in the constituency’s electoral history, with candidate, party, turnout, vote totals and margin all available for later comparison.
The clearest conclusion from the result
Four points can be stated from the Ramanujganj (ST) result without adding speculation. First, Ramvichar Netam won with 99,574 votes. Second, Dr. Ajay Kumar Tirkey was runner-up with 69,911, leaving a margin of 29,663. Third, Neelam Didi received 1,879 and NOTA 3,501, confirming a measurable vote outside the top two. Fourth, compared with the 2018 Brihaspat Singh versus Ramkishun Singh result, the 2023 count established a new leading order. Explaining motives, community-level behaviour or a future election would require separate evidence; the strongest foundation for a 2023 result story is the verified count itself.
Why the 2018 comparison matters for this seat
The comparison is especially useful because it prevents the 2023 result from being viewed in isolation. In 2018, Brihaspat Singh led the count with 64,580 votes and Ramkishun Singh followed with 31,664; in 2023 the corresponding leading positions were occupied by Ramvichar Netam with 99,574 and Dr. Ajay Kumar Tirkey with 69,911. The constituency itself also had a larger 2023 electorate of 218,543, so raw vote totals should be read together with turnout rather than treated as percentages of an unchanged voter base. The winning margin moved from 32,916 votes in 2018 to 29,663 in 2023. This does not prove a cause, but it gives the reader a concrete, seat-specific account of continuity and change. It also shows why a result story benefits from preserving both elections in the same record: the names, party outcome, scale of voting and distance between the top two can all change independently. For Ramanujganj (ST), those certified figures are more informative than a generic label about whether the seat was “strong” or “weak” for any party.
A note on the result record
The figures in this report are preserved as an election result record: candidate totals, turnout, electorate, NOTA and the winning margin. They describe what was counted in 2023 and how that count compares with 2018. They do not assign motives to voters or convert aggregate constituency data into claims about particular communities, localities or demographic groups.
Election Mandi Analysis
The official record shows a measurable change between 2018 and 2023 in Ramanujganj (ST). Ramvichar Netam won in 2023 with 99,574 votes and a margin of 29,663; Dr. Ajay Kumar Tirkey had 69,911, while Neelam Didi polled 1,879. In 2018, Brihaspat Singh had won with 64,580 votes and Ramkishun Singh was second with 31,664. The evidence therefore supports a factual comparison of candidates, party outcome, vote totals and margins, without turning the result into a prediction about a future election.
(FAQ)
Who won Ramanujganj (ST) in 2023?
Ramvichar Netam of the BJP won with 99,574 votes.
Who was runner-up?
Dr. Ajay Kumar Tirkey of the INC received 69,911 votes.
What was the winning margin?
29,663 votes.
Who finished third?
Neelam Didi with 1,879 votes.
What was turnout?
83.98%.
How many electors were registered?
218,543.
How many votes did NOTA receive?
3,501.
Who won in 2018?
Brihaspat Singh of the INC with 64,580 votes.
What was the 2018 margin?
32,916 votes.
Does the 2023 result predict the next election?
No. It is a historical result; any future election requires fresh evidence.
Sources
Primary: Election Commission of India, Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly Election 2023 – Detailed Results, Constituency Data Summary and AC-wise Voters Information. Historical comparison: Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Chhattisgarh / ECI, Assembly Election 2018 statistical results.


