The 2023 Assembly election in Sanjari Balod ended with Sangeeta Sinha of the Indian National Congress on top of the count. Sangeeta Sinha polled 84,649 votes, while Rakesh Kumar Yadav of the Bharatiya Janata Party finished second with 67,603. The difference between them was 17,046 votes. With 225,116 electors and turnout recorded at about 85.14%, the constituency produced a result whose scale can be understood most clearly through the official vote totals rather than campaign claims.
The winner secured 44.20% of the valid vote reflected in the ECI detailed result, compared with 35.30% for the runner-up. Meena Satyendra Sahu of Independent was the next notable candidate with 27,169 votes (14.19%), while NOTA accounted for 1,375 votes. Together, these figures show how the contest was distributed beyond the top two names.
2023 official result at a glance
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Vote share | Status |
| Sangeeta Sinha | Indian National Congress | 84,649 | 44.20% | Winner |
| Rakesh Kumar Yadav | Bharatiya Janata Party | 67,603 | 35.30% | Runner-up |
| Meena Satyendra Sahu | Independent | 27,169 | 14.19% | Third major |
| NOTA | NOTA | 1,375 | — | — |
Winning margin: 17,046 votes | Total electors: 225,116 | Turnout: about 85.14% | NOTA: 1,375
How the contest unfolded in the numbers
The central fact of the Sanjari Balod count was the gap between the first two candidates. Sangeeta Sinha finished 17,046 votes ahead of Rakesh Kumar Yadav. The runner-up, in turn, was 40,434 votes ahead of the third-placed major candidate, Meena Satyendra Sahu. That separation is important to the story of the 2023 contest because it shows whether the race remained concentrated around two candidates or whether a third force occupied a substantial part of the vote.
In Sanjari Balod, the third-candidate vote was especially visible. Meena Satyendra Sahu collected 27,169 votes, equal to 14.19% of the recorded vote share. That is a sizeable standalone result in the constituency record. The official count does not show where those voters would have gone in a two-candidate race, so the figure is best treated as an independent part of the 2023 mandate.
Turnout and the size of the mandate
Sanjari Balod had 225,116 electors on the 2023 roll and turnout was about 85.14%. In a constituency-level result, turnout supplies the scale of participation behind the count: it tells us how much of the registered electorate entered the voting process, while the candidate totals show how those polled votes were distributed.
Sangeeta Sinha received 84,649 votes, a lead of 17,046 over Rakesh Kumar Yadav. The winner-runner-up vote-share gap was 8.90 percentage points. Those are the clearest measures of the 2023 result. They establish the size of the victory in that election without turning the historical result into a claim about a future contest.
The third candidate and NOTA in the 2023 picture
Beyond the top two, Meena Satyendra Sahu polled 27,169 votes and NOTA received 1,375. Their significance lies in the fact that the constituency did not consist only of the winner and runner-up. The final result included voters who chose smaller parties, independents and NOTA, and those choices remain part of the official electoral record.
Election Mandi Analysis
The 2023 result in Sanjari Balod had three numerically visible layers: Sangeeta Sinha at 84,649, Rakesh Kumar Yadav at 67,603, and Meena Satyendra Sahu at 27,169. The third candidate’s 14.19% share made the contest more than a simple two-name table. At the same time, the official count only records choices; it does not establish how those votes might behave in another election.
(FAQ)
Who won the Sanjari Balod Assembly seat in 2023?
Sangeeta Sinha of the Indian National Congress won the seat with 84,649 votes.
Who was the runner-up?
Rakesh Kumar Yadav of the Bharatiya Janata Party finished second with 67,603 votes.
What was the winning margin?
The winning margin was 17,046 votes.
What were the top two vote shares?
Sangeeta Sinha recorded 44.20% and Rakesh Kumar Yadav recorded 35.30%.
Who was the third major candidate?
Meena Satyendra Sahu of Independent polled 27,169 votes (14.19%).
How many votes did NOTA receive?
NOTA received 1,375 votes.
How many electors were registered?
The constituency had 225,116 electors in the 2023 statistical record.
What was turnout?
Turnout was about 85.14% according to ECI AC-wise voter information.
Does this result predict the next election?
No. It is a record of the established 2023 Assembly result; a later election must be assessed with fresh candidates, issues and official data.
Sources
Primary source: Election Commission of India — Chhattisgarh Legislative Election 2023 Statistical Report, including Detailed Results, Constituency Data Summary and AC-wise Voters Information. Result date: 3 December 2023. Last verified for this article: 24 September 2026.
