The 2023 count in Bhatgaon produced a clear result: Laxmi Rajwade of the BJP won with 105,162 votes, while Paras Nath Rajwade of the INC finished second with 61,200. The winning margin was 43,962 votes. Narendra Sahu of the BSP was third with 11,441 votes and NOTA recorded 637. Election Commission records list 236,803 electors and turnout at 82.30%. The five-year comparison matters because the 2018 winner was Paras Nath Rajwade 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 105,162 votes polled by Laxmi Rajwade and the 61,200 received by Paras Nath Rajwade. Their separation of 43,962 votes decided the seat. Using the turnout and electorate as a broad denominator, about 194,889 voters participated; the winner’s total is roughly 54.0% of that base and the runner-up’s about 31.4%. 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. Narendra Sahu received 11,441 votes, about 5.9% 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, Paras Nath Rajwade of the INC won Bhatgaon with 74,623 votes and Rajni Ravishankar Tripathi of the BJP was runner-up with 58,889. The margin then was 15,734 votes. By 2023, the margin stood at 43,962. 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 Bhatgaon.

Turnout and the size of the electorate

Turnout provides the scale around those numbers. With 236,803 electors and 82.30% turnout, roughly 194,889 people voted. Turnout alone does not identify which party benefited, but it shows the size of the electorate within which a margin of 43,962 votes was produced.

The official NOTA count

NOTA received 637 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 Bhatgaon, in Surajpur district, the result is best understood through three candidate totals: Laxmi Rajwade at 105,162, Paras Nath Rajwade at 61,200 and Narendra Sahu at 11,441. Set beside the 2018 Paras Nath Rajwade versus Rajni Ravishankar Tripathi 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 105,162, runner-up 61,200, third candidate 11,441, NOTA 637, turnout 82.30% and margin 43,962.

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. Bhatgaon was one part of that larger election, but its constituency result had its own count: Laxmi Rajwade of the BJP led with 105,162 votes and Paras Nath Rajwade of the INC followed with 61,200. Statewide seat totals do not substitute for constituency-level evidence; the seat result is determined by the votes recorded in Bhatgaon.

From the 2018 backdrop to the 2023 count

In the 2018 Chhattisgarh Assembly election, Congress won 68 seats and the BJP 15. In Bhatgaon, Paras Nath Rajwade of the INC won that year with 74,623 votes, while Rajni Ravishankar Tripathi of the BJP was second with 58,889. 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, Paras Nath Rajwade, had 74,623 votes; the 2023 winner, Laxmi Rajwade, recorded 105,162. The 2018 runner-up, Rajni Ravishankar Tripathi, had 58,889, compared with 61,200 for 2023 runner-up Paras Nath Rajwade. 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 15,734 to 43,962 votes.

The story told by the winning margin

The 43,962-vote margin is the central distance in the 2023 result. It was produced within an electorate of 236,803 and turnout of 82.30%. The 2018 margin had been 15,734 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

Narendra Sahu received 11,441 votes and NOTA 637, showing that the Bhatgaon 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

Bhatgaon 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 82.30% and an electorate of 236,803, Laxmi Rajwade reached 105,162 votes, Paras Nath Rajwade finished on 61,200, and the distance between them settled at 43,962. 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 166,362 votes. Against approximate participation of 194,889, a substantial part of the count was therefore recorded outside the top two as well, including 11,441 for Narendra Sahu, 637 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

Paras Nath Rajwade was elected from Bhatgaon in 2018; Laxmi Rajwade 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 74,623 votes and the runner-up 58,889, while the leading 2023 totals were 105,162 and 61,200. The margin changed from 15,734 to 43,962. 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 Bhatgaon result without adding speculation. First, Laxmi Rajwade won with 105,162 votes. Second, Paras Nath Rajwade was runner-up with 61,200, leaving a margin of 43,962. Third, Narendra Sahu received 11,441 and NOTA 637, confirming a measurable vote outside the top two. Fourth, compared with the 2018 Paras Nath Rajwade versus Rajni Ravishankar Tripathi 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, Paras Nath Rajwade led the count with 74,623 votes and Rajni Ravishankar Tripathi followed with 58,889; in 2023 the corresponding leading positions were occupied by Laxmi Rajwade with 105,162 and Paras Nath Rajwade with 61,200. The constituency itself also had a larger 2023 electorate of 236,803, 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 15,734 votes in 2018 to 43,962 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 Bhatgaon, 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 Bhatgaon. Laxmi Rajwade won in 2023 with 105,162 votes and a margin of 43,962; Paras Nath Rajwade had 61,200, while Narendra Sahu polled 11,441. In 2018, Paras Nath Rajwade had won with 74,623 votes and Rajni Ravishankar Tripathi was second with 58,889. 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 Bhatgaon in 2023?

Laxmi Rajwade of the BJP won with 105,162 votes.

Who was runner-up?

Paras Nath Rajwade of the INC received 61,200 votes.

What was the winning margin?

43,962 votes.

Who finished third?

Narendra Sahu with 11,441 votes.

What was turnout?

82.30%.

How many electors were registered?

236,803.

How many votes did NOTA receive?

637.

Who won in 2018?

Paras Nath Rajwade of the INC with 74,623 votes.

What was the 2018 margin?

15,734 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.