Surguja (Chhattisgarh): The second phase of the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections is slated to be held on November 17. In the first phase, polling was held in 12 seats of the Bastar division including 8 seats of the Durg division. Voting for the 70 remaining seats will be held in the second phase.
The fate of 958 candidates is at stake as some of the remaining constituencies are elephant-affected. The affected districts are Gariaband, Mahasamund, Korba, Raigarh, Dharamjaygarh, Surguja, Balrampur and Surajpur. The farmers' crops and houses are targeted most of the time by marauding elephants. Amid the din of electioneering, the voters are even not sure if elephants go on the rampage during the voting.
Kedar Yadav, a voter, said, "There are estimated nine elephants in our village. They come anytime and there is no time for their arrival. If they come, there will be a loss of crops and houses. We are fearing for our lives as four such attacks took place recently." He continued, "It will be all over for us if elephants run amok during the polling."
The district officials, however, claimed that there is no threat of elephants right now, and the affected areas are being continuously monitored. Recently, the forest department officials chased away the elephants from a place near Udaipur, they said.
Kundan Kumar, collector, assured that a group of elephants comes from Korba and Raigarh, but a team is ready to keep the elephants at bay. "We are alert and keeping a close eye on the situation so that no elephant attack occurs. We are trying to instil confidence among the voters."
He, however, admitted that there are 70 elephants in the area near the elephant reserve. After the construction of the Elephant Rehabilitation Centre, a favourable atmosphere has been created for the area. Arrangements have been made for their food and drinking water, he added.
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