Chhattisgarh Assembly Election 2018: EC issues notification for first phase polls in 18 seats

Chhattisgarh Assembly Election 2018: The state will have polls in two phases on 12 November and 20 November and votes will be counted on 11 December.

The final date for filing nominations is 23 October and scrutiny of nominations would be completed the next day. (Image: PTI)

Chhattisgarh Assembly Election 2018: No nomination papers were filed on Tuesday for the first phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly polls after the process for filing them began with the issuance of a notification in this regard, a statement from the Chief Electoral Officer said. The state will have polls in two phases on 12 November and 20 November and votes will be counted on 11 December. The first phase of polling covers 18 seats spread across eight naxal-affected districts — Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Sukma, Kondagaon, Kanker, Narayanpur and Rajnandgaon. As per the notification issued on Tuesday, the final date for filing nominations is 23 October and scrutiny of nominations would be completed the next day, adding that nominations can be withdrawn till 26 October. In the first phase, 31,79,520 voters, comprising 16,21,839 men, 15,57,592 women and 89 third-gender voters would be able to exercise their franchise. As many as 4,336 polling booths have been set up for the first phase, the statement said. In the 2013 Assembly polls, the Congress had won 12 of the 18 seats. Prominent candidates expected to contest from the BJP in the first phase include Chief Minister Raman Singh, who is sitting MLA from Rajnandgaon. Apart from that, ministers Kedar Kashyap and Mahesh Gagda, legislators from Narayanpur and Bijapur respectively hold tight spots in their constituencies. Of the 18 seats going to polls in the first phase, 12 are reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) and one for Scheduled Caste (SC) categories.