54 candidates file nominations for 3 LS seats in Chhattisgarh

A total of 54 candidates have filed their nominations for the three Lok Sabha constituencies in Chhattisgarh which will witness voting in the second phase on April 18.

Twenty-four candidates have filed their nominations for the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat, 18 for Mahasamund and 12 for Kanker (ST), Chief Electoral Officer Subrat Sahoo told reporters here.

Tuesday was the last day for filing nominations for the seats going to the polls in the second phase. The nominations will be scrutinised Wednesday, while the contestants can withdraw their names till March 29.

BJP candidates Mohan Mandavi and Chunnilal Sahu filed their nominations for Kanker (ST) and Mahasamund seats, respectively, Tuesday.

In Rajnandgaon, BJP's Santosh Pandey and Congresss Bholaram Sahu filed their nominations on the last day.

The Congress has fielded its sitting MLA and former minister Dhanendra Sahu from Mahasamund, while the ruling party has pinned its hopes on a fresh face, Biresh Thakur, in the Kanker seat.

These two candidates had filed their nominations earlier.

Elections to the 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state will be held in three phases - on April 11, 18 and 23.

The Naxal-hit Bastar (ST) constituency is the only one to vote in the first phase for which eight candidates have filed their nominations.

After scrutiny Tuesday of papers filed for the Bastar seat, nomination of a candidate, Jaisingh Kavde of the Rashtriya Jansabha Party, was rejected, Sahoo said.

The contestants can withdraw from the fray till March 28 for the first phase.

The remaining seven seats - Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Raigarh (ST), Korba, Janjgir-Champa (SC) and Surguja (ST) - will go to the polls in the last phase on April 23 for which notification will be issued on March 28, he said.

Altogether, 1,91,16,285 voters, including 94,38,463 women and 709 members of the third gender, are eligible to exercise their franchise in the 11 seats.