Ahead of the assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, polling teams reached all the polling stations within the Bastar district on Monday.
The election for the 90-member state assembly is scheduled to take place in two phases, with voting on November 7 and November 17.
In the first phase of voting, 20 constituencies, including 12 from the Bastar division, are participating. These 20 constituencies are spread across seven districts in the Naxal-affected Bastar division and four additional districts, which include Rajnandgaon, Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki, Kabirdham, and Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai.
Among these twelve seats, polling will occur from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday in Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur, and Konta.
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However, voters in the remaining three seats – Bastar, Jagdalpur, and Chitrakot, will have the opportunity to cast their ballots between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., PTI reported.
Chhattisgarh is gearing up for its elections, featuring a significant 64,523 polling stations. The Election Commission reported a total of 5,61,36,229 eligible voters, which includes 2,63,829 first-time voters aged 18-19.
In preparation for the assembly elections in the Bastar division, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P said on Sunday that a thorough security arrangement has been put in place.
“Central paramilitary forces and special forces like District Reserve Guard, Special Task Force, Bastar Fighters (all units of the state police) and CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action – an elite unit of CRPF) have been deployed for security of polling station and roads,” an official statement said.
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Special forces from neighbouring states such as Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Odisha will be responsible for securing the interstate border areas. In consideration of the sensitivity of Naxal-affected interior regions, over 600 polling stations will be enveloped by a three-tiered security perimeter.
BJP Candidates List
The BJP aims to unseat the current Congress government led by Bhupesh Baghel in Chhattisgarh, as part of their strategy to secure victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.
The party has nominated Rajesh Agarwal as their candidate for the Ambikapur constituency, where he will compete against the state’s Deputy Chief Minister, TS Singh Deo. The BJP’s final candidate list includes four contenders, including Sushant Shukla in Beltara, Dhaniram Dhivar in Kasdol, and Dipesh Sahu in Bemetara.
State BJP media joint in-charge Anurag Agrawal had earlier said that of the 90 candidates from BJP, 33 are from OBC (Other Backward Class), 30 from Scheduled Tribe (ST), 10 from Scheduled Caste (SC).
Congress Candidates List
Out of the 90 Congress candidates, 33 belong to the Scheduled Tribes (ST), 29 come from Other Backward Classes (OBC), 10 are from Scheduled Castes (SC), and 15 represent the general categories. Additionally, three candidates are from minority communities. The Congress has also allocated 14 tickets to women.
In this candidate list, the Congress has re-nominated two incumbent MLAs, while 22 out of the 71 sitting Congress MLAs were not given party tickets for the upcoming election.
Security
For over 156 polling stations located in remote interior areas, polling personnel and EVMs are being transported to their designated locations via helicopters. As a security precaution, a total of 149 polling stations within Bijapur, Narayanpur, Antagarh, Dantewada, and Konta assembly constituencies have been relocated to the nearest police stations and security camps.
“The outlawed CPI (Maoist) has resorted to violent activities in its bid to disrupt the electoral process as they are frustrated to see the development and changing face of the Bastar region. It is the old style of Maoist organisation, which is proof of their anti-democratic face”, said the statement.
Also Read: Chhattisgarh assembly elections 2023: BJP leader hacked to death ahead of polls
Naxal insurgents have issued a call for voters to boycott the elections in the Bastar region where they killed a BJP leader in a village within the Narayanpur district while he was engaged in campaign activities for the party.
Recalling an incident from October 2018, a Naxal attack resulted in the deaths of three policemen and a Doordarshan cameraman in the lead-up to the assembly polls in Dantewada district.
Also Read: Ahead of Chhattisgarh polls, Naxals kill Doordarshan cameraperson, 2 cops in Dantewada
In this initial phase, an estimated 40,78,681 voters, comprising 19,93,937 males, 20,84,675 females, and 69 individuals belonging to the third gender, will determine the political destiny of 223 candidates, including 25 women.
(With inputs from PTI)
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Updated: 06 Nov 2023, 02:35 PM IST