Chhattisgarh gears up for second phase of polls tomorrow

The second phase of Assembly elections will be held in Chhattisgarh tomorrow.

Chhattisgarh, which witnessed a voter turnout of 67 percent in its first phase November 11 polls, will go into its second phase of polls tomorrow, for the remaining 72 constituencies.

A total of 843 candidates, including 75 women, are in fray. Their fate will be decided by 1,39,75,470 voters.

The campaigning, for the second phase which ended last evening, saw rallies addressed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

Congress mainly raised issues of corruption and deteriorating law and order situation in the state while the BJP has sought to project its government's achievements to seek voters mandate.

Addressing a rally here, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that the BJP led Chhattisgarh Government talks about development, but it has failed to address issues like corruption, terrorism, and crime against women in the state.

"Chhattisgarh has the highest number of incidents of Naxal violence, and BJP blames us (Congress) for not dealing properly with terrorism. The amount of violence existing in Chhattisgarh, no other state has ever seen," he said.

However, praising the achievements of incumbent BJP Chief Minister Raman Singh during the last ten years, Modi urged the people of the state to vote for the 'lotus' symbol, i.e the BJP, for a third consecutive term in office.

"Make the BJP win with a thumping majority. People of Chhattisgarh, the media wants the Congress to declare and name it's CM candidate for Chhattisgarh. I would like to ask the Congress as to why is it trying to achieve power (in the state) through backdoor entry? Why is the Congress silent and not talking about the hardships it has caused? What is troubling the Congress that it is not naming its CM candidate? What is preventing the Congress from revealing this? Why is not happy with the development taking place in Chhattisgarh under Raman Singh's leadership," asked Modi.