Amid threats of Maoist violence, 18 of the 90 constituencies in Chhattisgarh go to the polls today to elect a new assembly in the first phase of a battle in which the Congress is desperate to end 15 years of Bharatiya Janata Party’s rule.
The election, widely seen as a ‘semi-final’ ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha polls, will also see a formidable third factor in an alliance stitched by Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party with the Chhattisgarh Janata Congress of former chief minister Ajit Jogi and the Communist Party of India.
The BJP, ruling the state since 2003, has 49 seats in the outgoing assembly, the Congress 38 and the BSP one.
A total of 190 candidates are in the fray in the 18 constituencies spread over eight districts where Maoists have been active for over a quarter century.
Polling in 10 seats will start at 7am and end at 3pm while in the remaining eight seats voting will take place from 8am to 5pm.
The 10 seats where early voting is being held are Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur, Konta, Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal and Kondagaon.
The rest of the constituencies – Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur and Chitrakot – will see polling from 8am.
Chief Minister Raman Singh is seeking a fourth consecutive term and his main opponent is BJP-turned Congress leader Karuna Shukla, a niece of late prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
In the high stakes battle, Shukla, a former BJP Lok Sabha member, has taken on Raman Singh at his home turf Rajnandgaon.
The other constituencies that will see voting are Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Dongargaon, Khujji, Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Bastar, Jagdalpur, Chitrakot, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta.
Twelve of them are in the insurgency-hit Bastar region and six in Rajnandgaon district.
A total of 4,336 polling booths have been set up for the first phase of the state polls.
There are 31,80,014 voters, including 15,57,435 males, 16,22,492 females and 87 of the third gender.
Nearly 100,000 security personnel, including paramilitary forces, have been deployed across the state for the first phase.
These are in addition to the existing paramilitary personnel and 200 companies of state forces engaged in anti-Maoist operations in the tribal-dominated state.
Helicopters of the Indian Air Force and the Border Security Force have also been pressed into service.
The Maoists, who have asked people to boycott the elections, have triggered several attacks in the last few days killing several people including a BSF trooper yesterday.
The campaign which ended on Saturday witnessed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath raising the pitch for the saffron party.
Leading his party’s charge, Congress president Rahul Gandhi attacked the BJP over corruption, agrarian distress and unemployment.
The second phase of the Chhattisgarh election will be held on November 20 and the votes will be counted on December 11 along with the assembly polls of Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Rajasthan.
Pundits are viewing this round of assembly polls as a ‘semi-final’ before the country plunges into the Lok Sabha battle.
Aam Aadmi Party leaders including Delhi minister Gopal Rai (centre) release the party’s manifesto for Chhattisgarh assembly elections, in Raipur yesterday.
