Amid Naxal violence, 71.11 percent turnout recorded in phase 1 of Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections

The first phase of Assembly Elections in Chhattisgarh was marred with violence as Naxals triggered an IED blast in Sukma and were engaged in three different encounters with security personnel on Tuesday. A commando of CoBRA, an elite unit of CRPF, was injured in the IED blast triggered by Naxalites in Sukma while his unit was undertaking an area domination operation to ensure security during the polls. The turnout in all 20 constituencies in phase 1 was 71.11, according to Election Commission of India's approximate figures.

Raipur: Chhattisgarh recorded a voter turnout of 71.11 percent in phase 1 of Assembly Elections covering 20 constituencies on Tuesday, according to the Election Commission of India. The government data shows highest voter turnout of 76.31 percent in Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai district and the lowest 40.98 percent in Bijapur.

There have been incidents of violence in Sukma district where a CRPF commando was injured in an IED blast triggered by Naxalites while his unit was undertaking an area domination operation to ensure security during the polls.

A brief exchange of fire took place between Naxalites and security personnel near Banda polling station in Sukma district. Another encounter took place between security forces and Naxalites in Orchha police station area of Narayanpur district. However, no harm was reported to security personnel in these two incidents, police said.

Earlier, polling began in the morning in the first phase of assembly elections in Chhattisgarh under a thick security blanket of police and paramilitary personnel, who kept a tight vigil in the seats in Naxalite-hit Bastar division. Polling began at 7 am in 10 of the 20 assembly constituencies and ended at 3 pm.

Polling in 10 constituencies -- Mohla-Manpur (Durg division), Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta (all in Bastar division) - began at 7 am and continued till 3 pm in view of the Naxal threat. In the remaining 10 constituencies -- Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur, Chitrakot, Pandariya and Kawardha -- polling began at 8 am and continued till 5 pm.

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

State Congress chief and Bastar MP Deepak Baij (Chitrakot seat), Kawasi Lakhma (Konta) and Mohan Markam (Kondagaon), sitting Congress MLAs Chandan Kashyap (Narayanpur) and Savitri Mandavi (Bhanupratappur), all Congress candidates from their respective seats cast votes. BJP candidates and former ministers Kedar Kashyap (Narayanpur), Mahesh Gagda (Bijapur), Vikram Usendi (Antagarh) and Lata Usendi (Kondagaon) also exercised their franchise.

BJP leader and former chief minister Raman Singh is contesting from Rajnandgaon against Congress' Girish Dewangan, chairman of the Chhattisgarh State Mineral Development Corporation. Family members of BJP leader Ratan Dubey, who was killed by Naxalites while campaigning for the party last week in Narayanpur district, also cast their votes.

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.

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 the smooth conduct of polls in the Bastar division which has 12 assembly segments, police said. Nearly 1 lakh security personnel have been deployed for the first phase of polls, they said.

Due to security reasons, 149 polling stations in five assembly constituencies of the Bastar division have been shifted to the nearest police station and security camps, they said. Naxal activities are being monitored through drones and helicopters, while bomb disposal teams and dog squads will be roped in as and when required, according to the police.

Of the 20 seats, 12 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and one for the Scheduled Caste candidates. 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 second and last phase of polling for the 90-member state assembly.