Chhattisgarh goes to polls today

| | RAIPUR
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Chhattisgarh goes to polls today

Monday, 12 November 2018 | Staff Reporter | RAIPUR

Amid threats of Maoist violence, 18 of the 90 constituencies in Chhattisgarh will go to the polls on Monday under unprecedented security arrangements to elect a new Assembly in the first phase of a battle in which the Congress is desperate to end 15 years of BJP rule.

The election, widely seen as a ‘semi-final’ ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, will also see a formidable third factor in an alliance stitched by Mayawati’s BSP with the Chhattisgarh Janata Congress of former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi and the CPI.

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. The first phase polling will seal the political fate of Chief Minister Raman Singh from Rajnandgaon seat and his two ministerial colleagues Kedar Kashyap from Narayanpur seat and Mahesh Gagda from Bijapur seat.

Congress has fielded Karuna Shukla, a niece of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee against Raman Singh to challenge him on his home turf.

Political analysts say that Raman Singh’s clean image and popularity could help BJP to register the record fourth consecutive victory in the mineral-rich state.

The other constituencies that will see voting besides Rajnandgaon 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 polls. There are 31,80,014 voters, including 15,57,435 males, 16,22,492 females and 87 of the third gender.

Nearly 1.25 lakh security personnel, including paramilitary forces, have been deployed across the eight districts of the state for the first phase polling.

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.

Indian Air Force and BSF choppers have also been pressed into service.

The Maoists who hold sway in forested interiors have asked people to boycott the elections and they have triggered several attacks in the last few days killing several people including a BSF trooper on Sunday.

The campaign which ended on Saturday witnessed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party 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.

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