ConGReSS DeSPeRATe To enD 15-yeAR BJP RuLe

RAIPUR — Amid threats of Maoist violence, 18 of the 90 constituencies in Chhattisgarh will go to the polls on Monday to elect a new Assembly in the first phase of a battle in which the Congress is desperate to end 15- year BJP rule.

The election, widely seen as a ‘semi-final’ ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, will also see a formidable third factor in an alliance stitched by Mayawati’s BSP with the Chhattisgarh Janata Congress of former chief minister Ajit Jogi and the CPI.

A total of 190 candidates are in the fray in the 18 constituencies spread over eight districts where Maoists have been active for over a quarter century.

Chief Minister Raman Singh is vying for a fourth consecutive term and his main opponent is BJP-turned-Congress leader Karuna Shukla, a niece of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

In the high stakes battle, Shukla, a former BJP Lok Sabha member, has taken on Raman Singh at his home turf Rajnandgaon. > In the first phase, 18 of the 90 constituencies in Chhattisgarh will go to the polls on Monday

> A total of 190 candidates are in the fray in the 18 constituencies spread over eight districts

> The election is widely seen as a ‘semifinal’ ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls

> A total of 4,336 polling booths have been set up for the first phase of the state polls

> There are 31,79,520 voters, including 16,21,839 males, 15,57,592 females and 89 of the third gender

The other constituencies that will see voting are Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Dongargaon, Khujji, Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Bastar, Jagdalpur, Chitrakot, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta.

Twelve of them are in the insurgency-hit Bastar region and six in Rajnandgaon district.

A total of 4,336 polling booths have been set up for the first phase of the state polls. There are 31,79,520 voters, including 16,21,839 males, 15,57,592 females and 89 of the third gender.

The campaign which ended on Saturday witnessed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath raising the pitch for the saffron party.

Leading his party’s charge, Congress president Rahul Gandhi attacked the BJP over corruption, agrarian distress and unemployment.

The second phase of the Chhattisgarh election will be held on November 20 and the votes will be counted on December 11 along with the Assembly polls of Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Rajasthan.

Pundits are viewing this round of Assembly polls as a ‘semi-final’ before the country plunges into the Lok Sabha battle. —

1 100K BSF personnel killed in Security personnel blast in Chhattisgarh deployed to ensure ahead of elections peaceful polling

198 Polling booths have been relocated in 8 polling districts