Chhattisgarh Phase-1 Voting: Bastar Division Among Areas To See Polling Today, Ex-CM Raman Singh On Ballot

Chhattisgarh Election 2023: The first phase of voting, encompassing 20 seats, including the Naxal-affected Bastar division will see polling today. Ex-CM Raman Singh and AAP state unit chief, Komal Hupendi are on the ballot.

Polling officials with EVMs and other election material leave for poll duty ahead of Chhattisgarh Assembly elections, at Jagdalpur in Bastar district, Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. ( Image Source :PTI )

The first phase of Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh is set to take place on Tuesday, with an extensive security apparatus in place, especially in the Naxal-affected Bastar division. Authorities have deployed 25,249 personnel to ensure a peaceful and secure voting process. For the BJP, former chief minister Raman Singh is contesting from Ranjangaon against the Congress' Girish Dewangan, chairman of Chhattisgarh State Mineral Development Corporation. The Aam Aadmi Party's state unit chief, Komal Hupendi, is contesting from the Bhanupratappur seat.

In the first phase, voting will occur in 20 constituencies, with two different time slots. Voting in ten seats — Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur, and Konta—will take place between 7 am and 3 pm. For the remaining ten seats — Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Pandariya, Kawardha Bastar, Jagdalpur, and Chitrakot—polling hours are from 8 am to 5 pm.

• Voting Schedule: The polling is scheduled to be held between 7 am and 3 pm in 10 seats: Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur, and Konta. For the remaining 10 seats, voting will take place between 8 am and 5 pm.
  
  
• Candidates and Voters: In the first phase, a total of 223 candidates, including 25 women, are vying for the support of approximately 4,078,681 voters. This voter base comprises 1,993,937 male voters, 2,084,675 female voters, and 69 individuals of the third gender.
  
  
• Polling Booths: For the first phase, a total of 5,304 polling booths have been set up.
  
  
• Security Deployment: Approximately 60,000 security personnel, including 40,000 from Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), have been deployed to ensure the smooth conduct of polls, especially in the 12 Naxal-hit constituencies of the Bastar division.
  
  
• Constituencies: Of the 20 seats in the first phase, 12 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and one for the Scheduled Caste category.

  The highest number of contestants, 29, is in the Rajnandgaon constituency, while Chitrakot and Dantewada seats have the lowest number of candidates, with seven contestants each. 

• Prominent Candidates: Some notable candidates in this phase include Chhattisgarh Congress Chief and MP Deepak Baij (Chitrakot), ministers Kawasi Lakhma (Konta), Mohan Markam (Kondagaon), Mohammad Akbar (Kawardha), and Chhavindra Karma (Dantewada), who is the son of the late leader Mahendra Karma.

  From the BJP, former Chief Minister Raman Singh is contesting from Ranjangaon, facing the Congress' Girish Dewangan, the chairman of Chhattisgarh State Mineral Development Corporation. Other notable BJP candidates include four former ministers, Lata Usendi (Kondagaon), Vikram Usendi (Antagarh), Kedar Kashyap (Narayanpur), and Mahesh Gagda (Bijapur), along with former IAS officer Neelkanth Tekam (Keshkal).

  The Aam Aadmi Party's state unit chief, Komal Hupendi, is running for the Bhanupratappur seat, and MLA Anup Nag, who was denied a ticket by the Congress, is contesting as an Independent candidate from Antagarh.

The election campaign for the first phase saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeting Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel over the alleged Mahadev betting app scam. The BJP highlighted issues like religious conversion, law and order, and corruption. The Congress, on the other hand, centered its campaign on welfare schemes introduced by the Baghel government and a promise to waive farm loans if it retains power.

In the 2018 Assembly polls, the Congress secured victory in 17 of these 20 seats, while the BJP won two, and the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh secured one.

The Congress currently holds 71 seats in the 90-member Assembly after its significant victory in the 2018 polls.

The first phase of voting will set the tone for the Chhattisgarh Assembly election, with parties vying for the support of voters across various constituencies in the state.