Voting in first phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly election ends

Polling began on a slow note in many constituencies, but gradually picked up momentum, he said.

The voting in nine seats of Bastar division and one seat in Rajnandgaon district began at 7 am, while in the other eight seats, it started at 8 am.

"Around 65 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 3 pm in 18 assembly constituencies in the first phase of Chhattisgarh elections on Monday," the poll official said.

Amid tight security, polling in 10 constituencies- Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta -- concluded at 3 pm.

In the other eight constituencies -- Khairgarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur and Chitrakot -- it will conclude at 5 pm.

After 15 years, polling was held in Palam Adgu village of Sukma district where 44 voters exercised their franchise till 2:30 pm, he said.

A surrendered Naxal couple, identified as Mainuram and wife Rajbatti, also voted in Narayanpur segment, the official said, adding the duo was earlier associated with the Maoists's Kiskodo LOS (local organisation squad).

Elderly voters, including some of them above 100 years of age, and persons with disability also came forward to cast their votes, he said Thirty one EVMs and 51 VVPAT machines were replaced due to technical snags, the poll official said.

A thick security blanket comprising over 1.25 lakh police and paramilitary personnel was in place across the 18 constituencies, all of them falling in Naxal-affected areas of Bastar, Kanker, Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Rajnandgaon districts.

Sukma Superintendent of Police Abhishek Meena said voters from interior areas in the district were coming out to vote, defying the Naxals' call for poll boycott.

In Bhejji 2, Gochanpalli, Kolaiguda and Gorkha polling booths, which saw 'zero voting' in the 2013 polls, voter turnout was good this time, he added.

Meanwhile, the polling day also saw an encounter between security personnel and Naxals in Bijapur and a bombing in Dantewada.

Five CoBRA personnel were injured in two separate encounters with ultras in Pamed police station area of Bijapur district, police said.

An improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated early Monday morning in Katekalyan area of Dantewada district by Naxals, but no harm was reported, they said.

Chhattisgarh minister Kedar Kashyap (Narayanpur seat, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Kanker Lok Sabha MP Vikram Usendi (Antagarh) and Congress leader Devti Karma (Dantewada) were among the prominent candidates who cast their votes.

In the first phase, 190 candidates are in the fray and as many as 4,336 polling booths have been set up and 19,079 polling personnel deployed there.

Among the other prominent candidates are Chief Minister Raman Singh and minister Mahesh Gagda (Bijapur).

Among the contestants are nine sitting Congress MLAs -- Manoj Singh Mandavi (Bhanupratappur), Mohan Lal Markam (Kondagaon), Lakheshwar Baghel (Bastar), Deepak Kumar Baij (Chitrakot), Devati Karma (Dantewada), Kawasi Lakhma (Konta), Girwar Janghel (Khairagarh), Santram Netam (Keshkal) and Daleshwar Sahu (Dongargaon).

This time, the coalition between Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), former chief minister Ajit Jogi's JCC(J) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) has added another dimension to the electoral politics of Chhattisgarh which is generally a two-way fight between the BJP and Congress.

Of the 18 seats going to polls in the first phase, 12 are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (STs) and one for Scheduled Caste (SC) category.

The second phase of polling in 72 seats, out of the 90-member Assembly, will be held on November 20.

Counting of votes will take place on December 11.