Voting for the
first phase of the Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections, involving 20 seats in the State’s
southern region, began at 7 am amid tight security on Tuesday.
Polling started at
7 am for 10 seats, which include Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur,
Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta.
The polling for
the remaining Assembly constituencies, which include Pandaria, Kawardha,
Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur, and
Chitrakote, commenced at 8 am and continue until 5 pm.
Chhattisgarh is
undergoing elections in two phases, with the second phase scheduled for
November 17.
There are a total
of 223 candidates in the fray for 20 seats. As many as, 5,304 voting booths
have been set up by the election commission for this phase. There are 40,78,681
voters in this phase. Of these, there are 19,93,937 male voters and 20,84,675
female voters.
In this phase, 13
of the 20 seats are reserved for SC/STs. Overall, in the State, 29 seats are
reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs) and 10 seats are reserved for Scheduled
Castes (SCs).
Voting is being
held in constituencies that are Naxal affected and fall in districts like
Bastar, Dantewada, Kanker, Kabeerdham, and Rajnandgaon.
In the first phase
of voting, 13 candidates are contesting in the Antagarh assembly constituency,
while 14 are in race for the Bhanupratappur, 9 in Kanker, 10 in Keshkal, 8 in
Kondagaon, 9 in Narayanpur, 8 in Bastar, 11 in Jagdalpur, 7 in Chitrakote, 7 in
Dantewada, 8 in Bijapur, 8 in Konta, 11 in Khairagarh, 10 in Dongargarh, 29 in
Rajnandgaon, 12 in Dongargaon, 10 in Khujji, 9 in Mohla-Manpur, 16 in Kawardha
and 14 in Pandariya.
Notable figures
such as former Chief Minister Raman Singh is seeking re-election from his seat
in Rajnandgaon, and State Minister Kawasi Lakhma, who is running again from
Konta, where he is the sitting MLA.
In 2018, the
Congress won 17 of the 20 seats that will go to the polls in Phase 1. BJP had
won two seats, while Ajit Jogi’s party had won one.
In 2023, the
Congress replaced six of the sitting MLAs in this phase, while in the seat of
Bahnupratappur, the wife of late MLA Manoj Mandavi, Savita Mandavi, will be
contesting.
As per the data
from the Election Commission of India, in the election to the 90-member Assembly,
a total of 2,03,80,079 crore voters, including 19,839 service voters, will be
able to exercise their franchise.
There are also 790
gender voters in the State and 1,60,955 persons with disabilities voters, as
per the data shared by the poll body.
Chhattisgarh has
2,63,829 electors in the age group of 18-19. There are 1,86,215 senior citizens
above the age of 80 in the state.
The poll panel
said there are 24,109 polling stations in the State as compared to 23,667 in
2018.
To conduct free
and fair elections in the State, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have been
deployed to augment the local police force.
Kanker Collector
Priyanka Shukla said, “This time tight security arrangements have been made in
the most Naxal-affected areas, while some polling centres will also be
monitored with drones.”
Polling teams
reached all the polling stations of Kanker district on Monday.
Two special rooms
have been prepared in Kanker and Antagarh. Teams have been sent from Kanker to
Bhanupratappur Assembly constituencies, which are the most Naxal-affected
areas.
According to the
Chief Electoral Officer, Chhattisgarh, a total of 223 candidates in the 20 Assembly
constituencies of the first phase, of which 198 are men and 25 are women, will
contest the polls on Tuesday.
ANI
