First phase polling ends in Chhattisgarh

The day saw a bombing in Kanker, a clash between Congress and BJP workers in Jagdalpur, and firing in Dantewada

Ballotting came to an end on Monday in the first phase of elections to the Chhattisgarh assembly.

 

The day saw a bombing in Kanker, a clash between Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in Jagdalpur, and firing in Dantewada.

 

Seventy per cent voting was recorded across 18 constituencies of Bastar and Rajnandgaon till 3pm in the first phase of assembly election in Chhattisgarh, where violence by Naxals who have called for a poll boycott left a CRPF jawan dead.

 

Naxals ambushed a team of election personnel when they were returning after conclusion of polling in Katekalyan area of Dantewada district in south Chhattisgarh, killing Central Reserve Police Force jawan B. Joseph of 186 battalion. Also, over ten bombs, including a 10kg pipe bomb, were recovered and a policeman was injured in a bomb attack by Naxals since morning.

 

A total of 143 candidates were in the fray and their fate was sealed by about 2.9 million voters.

 

The sprawling region that went to the polls Monday includes Bastar, which with around 40,000 sq km is bigger than the size of Kerala, and the neighbouring Rajnandgaon district.

 

Bastar accounts for 12 assembly constituencies and Rajnandgaon six. Together, this mineral rich area -- with dense forests and Maoist hideouts -- is infamously known as the red zone.

 

There was tight security for the first phase polling for the 12 seats in Bastar division and the six seats in Rajnandgaon district.

 

Total 4,142 polling booths have been set up across the 18 assembly constituencies. Among these, 1,311 were hypersensitive and 1,517 were sensitive.