Bhupesh Baghel was the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh from 2018 to 2023. The Congress leader has represented the Patan Assembly constituency in the Chhattisgarh Assembly since 2013. He won the constituency in a row in the 2013, 2018 and 2023 Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections by defeating Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates. In the 2023 Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections, Baghel defeated BJP's Vijay Baghel with a margin of 19,723 votes. He defeated BJP's Motilal Sahu in 2018 by 27,477 votes and became the Chief Minister after the Congress party won a decisive mandate. In the 2013 Chhattisgarh Assembly Election, Baghel defeated BJP's Vijay Baghel by 9,343 votes. The rivalry between the two Baghels is not new as Vijay defeated Bhupesh Baghel once in 2008 from Patan by 7,842 votes. In 2003, Bhupesh defeated Vijay, then the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) member, by 6,909 votes. Bhupesh Baghel was the minister in Digvijaya Singh's undivided Madhya Pradesh Cabinet and also in the Ajit Jogi-led first Chhattisgarh government. Baghel also represented the Patan Assembly constituency in the undivided Madhya Pradesh from 1993 to 2003. He was also the president of the Chhattisgarh Congress unit from 2014 to 2019. In the 2009 Lok Sabha Election, Bhupesh Baghel contested against BJP's Ramesh Bais from Raipur but lost by 57,901 votes. Baghel is contesting from the Rajnandgaon constituency in the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2024 against BJP's Santosh Pandey.