High-stakes election contest starts with voting in Chhattisgarh, Mizoram

Voting for a crucial round of assembly elections kicked off in Mizoram and parts of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, heralding the start of a weeks-long polling exercise widely regarded as a weathervane ahead of next year’s national elections.

Voting for a crucial round of assembly elections kicked off in Mizoram and parts of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, heralding the start of a weeks-long polling exercise widely regarded as a weathervane ahead of next year’s national elections.

Voters outside a polling booth in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district on Tuesday. (PTI)

Mizoram recorded a turnout of 77.83% till 9pm, (compared to 81.61% in 2018) while voting in 20 seats of Chhattisgarh clocked 71.80%, even as stray clashes between security forces and Maoists in the state’s troubled Bastar region left four Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel injured.

To be sure, with voters who are still in queue allowed to cast their ballot even after the scheduled time period elapses, final percentages are updated the day after voting takes place.

The Maoist-infested Bastar region saw intermittent violence in four separate spots, said state police officers.

Four CPRF personnel were injured in an exchange of fire in Minpa and Duled villages in Sukma, with the security force pressing helicopters into action to evacuate wounded people.

In Sukma, an officer of the COBRA unit of the CRPF was injured after an IED blast.

In Kanker, the police recovered an AK-47 rifle after a gunfight in Panavar village in Bande district.

There was also a brief exchange of fire between Maoists and security personnel in Orchha in Narayanpur.

Inspector general of police (Bastar range) Sunderaj P said that around 60,000 security personnel — 40,000 from the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and 20,000 from the state police — were deployed across the state to keep voters safe and the process peaceful.

Election officials this year set up 126 new polling booths in areas of the state previously inaccessible due to Maoist influence.

The state — where the Congress is hoping to retain its government — is voting in two phases on November 7 and 17. The results, along with those in four other states, will be announced on December 3.

As voting was underway, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said Maoism in the state has retreated to a great extent with the work done in five years. “Earlier, big incidents used to happen, now small incidents are happening. I think this will also stop in the future. Maoism has retreated to a great extent with the work we have done in five years. As a result, polling booths have been set up inside villages. There is a possibility of high voting percentage in Maoist-affected areas,” he said.

“The BJP has accepted its defeat as they are using agencies to target opposition leaders. They (ED, IT) will take a short break. After November 17, they will take a break,” chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said, referring to the central agency’s probe in the Mahadev betting app scam.

Former chief minister and BJP leader Raman Singh, who was among the candidates in the fray from Rajnandgaon, was confident that his party would return to power in a state it lost to the Congress in 2018.

“BJP is winning at least 14 of the 20 seats where voting is taking place in the first phase,” Singh said.

In 2018, the Congress won 17 of the 20 seats on offer in the first phase in Chhattisgarh, eventually winning 68 of the 90 seats in the assembly in a landslide victory.

Mizoram, as in previous years, saw a relatively high turnout and a peaceful vote on Tuesday.

By 4pm,76.53% of the state’s 857,000 voters had cast their ballots, officials said. Voting continued till 9pm in at least six booths.

The state election office had not released the final voting percentage till 6pm, but officials indicated that this figure would inch past the 80% mark.

Chief minister Zoramthanga, of the Mizo National Front (MNF), stressed that his party will take charge of the state again. “It will not be a hung assembly and the MNF will form the government,” he said.

In 2018, the MNF returned to power in Mizoram after 10 years, defeating the Congress in its last bastion in the Northeast. The MNF bagged 26 of the 40 seats and secured a majority on its own with a 37.70% vote share. The Congress, which was in power since 2008, came third with just five seats and 30% of the total votes.

Opposition parties in the state, including the Congress and the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), sounded confident too.

Mizoram Congress president Lalsawta said, “The people of Mizoram intend to vote in a Congress government this time. Right now, we are not bothered about a hung assembly and are concerned only about getting the 21 MLAs needed to form a government.”

K Sapdanga, working president of the ZPM, the largest opposition party in the state, also said his party will win a majority on their own.