Chhattisgarh polls : One CRPF commando injured in an IED blast

Polling in 10 constituencies including Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta is being held from 7 am to 3 pm due to threat from the Maoists

Raipur: Voting began for 20 assembly segments in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday morning in the first phase of assembly elections under heavy security blanket comprising police and paramilitary personnel. A. Around 10 % polling had been recorded until 9-30 am, poll officials said.

Voters queue up outside a polling booth in Kondagaon in Chhattisgarh as they await their turn to cast a vote in the first phase of assembly elections. (ANI)

As many as 12 constituency segments in Tuesday’s polls are in Maoist-hit Bastar region. Soon after polling began, a CRPF commando was injured in an IED blast triggered by Maoists in Sukma district when he along with his team was in an “area domination” operation to ensure security during the polls.

Polling in these 10 constituencies -- Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, , Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta -- is being held from 7 am to 3 pm due to the Naxal threat.

In the remaining ten constituencies -- Khairgarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur, Chitrakot, Pandariya and Kawardha -- people can vote from 8 am to 5 pm.

“Till 9:30 am, around 10 % turnout was recorded in 20 constituencies,” poll officials said.

Two state ministers Kawasi Lakhma (Konta seat) and Mohan Markam (Kondagaon), sitting Congress MLAs Chandan Kashyap (Narayanpur) and Savitri Mandavi (Bhanupratappur)-- all Congress candidates from their respective seats, BJP candidates and former ministers Kedar Kashyap (Narayanpur) and Lata Usendi (Kondagaon) were among the early voters who exercised their franchise.

In the first phase covering 20 of the total 90 assembly seats, 223 candidates, including 25 women, are in fray and as per electoral rolls, 40,78,681 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise.

The ruling Congress and the opposition BJP are the main contenders for power in the state.

Women voters outnumber men in 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 have been set up for the first phase and 25,249 polling personnel have been deployed.

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 smooth conduct of polls in the Bastar division which has 12 assembly segments, police said.

Around 1 lakh security personnel have been deployed for the first phase of polls.

Of the 20 seats, 12 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and one for the Scheduled Castes. The highest number of contestants is in Rajnandgaon (29) and the lowest -- seven each -- in Chitrakot and Dantewada seats, polls officials said.

The remaining 70 seats will see voting on November 17 in the last phase of polling for the 90-member state assembly.