Voting for 10 constituencies in Chhattisgarh was held from 7 am to 3 pm in 10 seats and from 8 am to 5 pm in the rest 10 segments under a thick security blanket of police and paramilitary personnel in the Naxalite-hit Bastar division.
The polling for the remaining 70 assembly segments will be held in the second phase on November 17 and votes will be counted on December 3.
Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections: 2018 recap
In the previous assembly polls, a voter turnout of 76.47 per cent was recorded on 18 seats in the first phase. This time, two more constituencies were included in the first phase.
Out of the total 20 constituencies that voted on Tuesday, 17 were won by the Congress and two by the BJP in the 2018 assembly polls. Last time, the Congress had won 68 out of the total 90 seats in the state decimating the saffron party, which was in power that time, to 15.
Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections: Naxalite Violence
Incidents of violence were reported from Sukma, Narayanpur, Bijapur and Kanker districts.
Four security personnel were injured in an encounter with Naxalites in the Chintagufa police station area of Sukma district while a CRPF commando sustained injuries in an IED blast near Tondamarka camp in the same district during separate area domination operations to ensure security during the polls, police said.
Exchanges of fire also took place between Naxalites and security personnel –one each in Narayanpur, Bijapur and Kanker districts. However, no harm was reported to security personnel in those incidents, police said.
Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections: Prominent candidates
On Tuesday, the political fate of former chief minister and BJP leader Raman Singh, Chhattisgarh Congress chief and MP Deepak Baij, and at least three ministers in the Bhupesh Baghel cabinet was sealed in EVMs.
Deepak Baij (Chitrakot seat), state ministers Kawasi Lakhma, Mohan Markam, and Mohammad Akbar, were among the prominent candidates in the fray.
Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections: In a first
Residents of 126 villages in the Bastar division rejoiced as polling stations were set up for the first time in their villages since Independence in seven Left Wing Extremist (LWE) affected districts, a statement issued by the poll authority said.
Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections: Voting Statistics
A total of 223 candidates, including 25 women, were in the fray and as per electoral rolls, 40,78,681 voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in the first phase.
Women voters outnumber men in the seats covered under the first phase of polling. As many as 20,84,675 female voters are on the rolls while the number of male voters is 19,93,937. There are 69 third gender voters as well.
As many as 5,304 election booths were set up for the first phase and 25,249 polling personnel have been deployed.
Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections: Constituencies who voted
Polling in 10 constituencies — Mohla-Manpur (Durg division), Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta (all in Bastar division) – began at 7 am and continued till 3 pm in view of the Naxal threat.
The remaining 10 constituencies — Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur, Chitrakot, Pandariya and Kawardha — voted between 8 am and 5 pm.
Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections: Security arrangement
Around 60,000 security personnel, 40,000 of them belonging to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and 20,000 from the state police, have been deployed for the smooth conduct of polls in the Bastar division which has 12 assembly segments, police said.
(With agency inputs)
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Updated: 07 Nov 2023, 09:55 PM IST