New Delhi: The first section of the Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections 2023 kicked off on Tuesday, with 20 out of 90 seats going to polls. More than 40 lakh voters, together with 19,93,937 male, 20,84,675 feminine and 69 third-gender individuals, will solid their ballots throughout 5,304 polling stations.
The polling hours are 7am to 3pm for 10 seats within the Naxal-affected Bastar area, specifically Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta. The remaining 10 seats, specifically Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Pandariya, Kawardha, Bastar, Jagdalpur and Chitrakot, will see voting from 8am to 5pm.
The first section will seal the destiny of 223 candidates, together with 25 ladies, who’re within the fray. The state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) mentioned that 25,429 polling personnel have been deployed for the primary section of polls. He mentioned that 156 ballot events have been airlifted to 5 districts within the Bastar area, whereas 5,148 polling groups have been despatched by buses to their respective cubicles. He additionally mentioned that internet casting facility will likely be out there in 2431 cubicles.
A senior police official mentioned that 60,000 safety personnel, together with 40,000 from Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), have been stationed for clean conduct of polls in 12 seats of the Bastar area, which is liable to Naxal violence. Of the 20 seats, 12 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and one for the Scheduled Caste class. The highest variety of contestants is in Rajnandgaon constituency (29) whereas the bottom variety of candidates is seven every in Chitrakot and Dantewada seats.
The principal contenders for energy are the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP, with the Aam Aadmi Party and a few Independents additionally within the race. The Congress has 19 of those 20 seats, together with two it gained in bypolls. In the 2018 Assembly polls, the Congress had gained 17 of those 20 seats, the BJP two and the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh one.
The Congress is banking on the recognition of its Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who has carried out a number of welfare schemes for farmers, ladies, tribals and Dalits, and has promised to waive farm loans if re-elected. The Congress has additionally accused the BJP-led Centre of “handing over” assets to “industrialist friends” and of threatening the tradition and identification of the folks.
The BJP is hoping to regain energy after dropping in 2018, and has highlighted its promise of growth and welfare, and its efforts to bridge the hole between the northeast and the remainder of the nation. The BJP has additionally attacked Baghel over the alleged Mahadev betting app rip-off, and has raised points of non secular conversion, regulation and order and corruption. The BJP has additionally informed the voters that their occasion’s guarantees are “Modi’s guarantees”.
Some of the outstanding candidates within the first section are Chhattisgarh Congress chief and MP Deepak Baij (Chitrakot), ministers Kawasi Lakhma (Konta), Mohan Markam (Kondagaon) and Mohammad Akbar (Kawardha) in addition to Chhavindra Karma (Dantewada), who’s the son of late chief Mahendra Karma, from the Congress.
For the BJP, former chief minister Raman Singh is contesting from Ranjangaon in opposition to the Congress’ Girish Dewangan, chairman of Chhattisgarh State Mineral Development Corporation. Other notable faces from the BJP embody 4 former ministers Lata Usendi (Kondagaon seat), Vikram Usendi (Antagarh), Kedar Kashyap (Narayanpur) and Mahesh Gagda (Bijapur), in addition to former IAS officer Neelkanth Tekam from Keshkal.
The Aam Aadmi Party’s state unit chief Komal Hupendi will contest from Bhanupratappur seat, whereas MLA Anup Nag, after being denied a ticket by the Congress, is preventing as an Independent from Antagarh seat.
