The 2023 count in Ambikapur produced a clear result: Rajesh Agrawal of the BJP won with 90,780 votes, while T. S. Baba of the INC finished second with 90,686. The winning margin was 94 votes. Balsai Koram of the GGP was third with 6,083 votes and NOTA recorded 2,168. Election Commission records list 256,691 electors and turnout at 76.37%. The five-year comparison matters because the 2018 winner was T. S. Baba 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 90,780 votes polled by Rajesh Agrawal and the 90,686 received by T. S. Baba. Their separation of 94 votes decided the seat. Using the turnout and electorate as a broad denominator, about 196,035 voters participated; the winner’s total is roughly 46.3% of that base and the runner-up’s about 46.3%. 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. Balsai Koram received 6,083 votes, about 3.1% 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, T. S. Baba of the INC won Ambikapur with 100,439 votes and Anurag Singh Deo of the BJP was runner-up with 60,815. The margin then was 39,624 votes. By 2023, the margin stood at 94. 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 Ambikapur.

Turnout and the size of the electorate

Turnout provides the scale around those numbers. With 256,691 electors and 76.37% turnout, roughly 196,035 people voted. Turnout alone does not identify which party benefited, but it shows the size of the electorate within which a margin of 94 votes was produced.

The official NOTA count

NOTA received 2,168 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 Ambikapur, in Surguja district, the result is best understood through three candidate totals: Rajesh Agrawal at 90,780, T. S. Baba at 90,686 and Balsai Koram at 6,083. Set beside the 2018 T. S. Baba versus Anurag Singh Deo 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 90,780, runner-up 90,686, third candidate 6,083, NOTA 2,168, turnout 76.37% and margin 94.

2018 vs 2023 Result Comparison

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. Ambikapur was one part of that larger election, but its constituency result had its own count: Rajesh Agrawal of the BJP led with 90,780 votes and T. S. Baba of the INC followed with 90,686. Statewide seat totals do not substitute for constituency-level evidence; the seat result is determined by the votes recorded in Ambikapur.

From the 2018 backdrop to the 2023 count

In the 2018 Chhattisgarh Assembly election, Congress won 68 seats and the BJP 15. In Ambikapur, T. S. Baba of the INC won that year with 100,439 votes, while Anurag Singh Deo of the BJP was second with 60,815. 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, T. S. Baba, had 100,439 votes; the 2023 winner, Rajesh Agrawal, recorded 90,780. The 2018 runner-up, Anurag Singh Deo, had 60,815, compared with 90,686 for 2023 runner-up T. S. Baba. 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 39,624 to 94 votes.

The story told by the winning margin

The 94-vote margin is the central distance in the 2023 result. It was produced within an electorate of 256,691 and turnout of 76.37%. The 2018 margin had been 39,624 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

Balsai Koram received 6,083 votes and NOTA 2,168, showing that the Ambikapur count extended beyond the two leading candidates. The third-place total was larger 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

Ambikapur 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 76.37% and an electorate of 256,691, Rajesh Agrawal reached 90,780 votes, T. S. Baba finished on 90,686, and the distance between them settled at 94. 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 181,466 votes. Against approximate participation of 196,035, a substantial part of the count was therefore recorded outside the top two as well, including 6,083 for Balsai Koram, 2,168 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

T. S. Baba was elected from Ambikapur in 2018; Rajesh Agrawal 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 100,439 votes and the runner-up 60,815, while the leading 2023 totals were 90,780 and 90,686. The margin changed from 39,624 to 94. 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 Ambikapur result without adding speculation. First, Rajesh Agrawal won with 90,780 votes. Second, T. S. Baba was runner-up with 90,686, leaving a margin of 94. Third, Balsai Koram received 6,083 and NOTA 2,168, confirming a measurable vote outside the top two. Fourth, compared with the 2018 T. S. Baba versus Anurag Singh Deo 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, T. S. Baba led the count with 100,439 votes and Anurag Singh Deo followed with 60,815; in 2023 the corresponding leading positions were occupied by Rajesh Agrawal with 90,780 and T. S. Baba with 90,686. The constituency itself also had a larger 2023 electorate of 256,691, 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 39,624 votes in 2018 to 94 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 Ambikapur, 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 Ambikapur. Rajesh Agrawal won in 2023 with 90,780 votes and a margin of 94; T. S. Baba had 90,686, while Balsai Koram polled 6,083. In 2018, T. S. Baba had won with 100,439 votes and Anurag Singh Deo was second with 60,815. 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 Ambikapur in 2023?

Rajesh Agrawal of the BJP won with 90,780 votes.

Who was runner-up?

T. S. Baba of the INC received 90,686 votes.

What was the winning margin?

94 votes.

Who finished third?

Balsai Koram with 6,083 votes.

What was turnout?

76.37%.

How many electors were registered?

256,691.

How many votes did NOTA receive?

2,168.

Who won in 2018?

T. S. Baba of the INC with 100,439 votes.

What was the 2018 margin?

39,624 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.