Chhattisgarh polls: First phase ends with 70% vote

Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Nov. 12: Amidst Maoist threats ahead of the Chhattisgarh assembly elections, people turned out in large numbers to vote in the 18 constituencies that went to the polls on Nov. 12. Around 70% voted in the first phase of the elections.

Chhattisgarh on Monday kicked off the much-anticipated five-state elections, including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram, that is seen as a prelude to the crucial Lok Sabha polls next year. Elections for the remaining 72 constituencies of the state will be held on Nov. 20 and counting of votes will be done on December 11, 2018 along with other states.

“Over 70 per cent voters cast their vote… The final figure may touch the last election’s figure of 75 per cent as data is still being obtained,” Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha told IANS.

About 75.53% voter turnout was registered in the first phase of elections in 2013.

The constituencies which went to the polls on Monday were Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur, Konta, Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur and Chitrakot.

A total of 190 candidates were in the fray for 18 seats this year and about 650 companies of armed forces were deployed to ensure peaceful voting in 4,336 polling booths following a boycott call by the Maoists.

The prominent faces in the first phase include Chief Minister Raman Singh, who was pitted against Congress’ Karuna Shukla in his home turf Rajnandgaon. Shukla, a niece of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee switched to Congress from BJP in 2014.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been ruling the state for the last 15 years, had lost 12 of the 18 seats in this Maoist-affected area in the last elections. The BJP won a total of 49 seats in the 90-member state assembly against 39 seats won by the Indian National Congress, thus claiming the government, but the vote share was close with the former garnering a 41.04% vote share against 40.3% by the latter. Meanwhile, the BSP and Independent won one seat each.

The BJP, which is vying to rule the state for the fourth consecutive times, will face a stiff competition from not only its arch rival Indian National Congress (INC) but also from other political parties like Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Communist Party of India (CPI) this time around.

(With inputs from IANS)