No nomination so far for first two phases of polling in C'garh

Not a single nomination has been filed till Wednesday for four Lok Sabha constituencies, including naxal-hit Bastar seat, which will vote during the first two of the total three phases in Chhattisgarh.

Polling will be held only for Bastar (ST) constituency in the first phase on April 11, and for Kanker (ST), Rajnandgaon and Mahasamund seats in the second phase on April 18.

The notification for the first phase was issued on March 18 while for the second phase on March 19.

"Till the deadline for filing nominations for Wednesday ended at 3 PM, no nominations were filed in any of the four Lok Sabha constituencies," Chhattisgarh's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Subrat Sahoo said in a statement.

Candidates can file their nomination papers on all working days from 11 am till 3 pm till March 25 for the first phase, and till March 26 for the second phase, he added.

Sahoo informed that elaborate preparations are being made for conducting free, fair and peaceful polling in all the 11 Lok Sabha seats during the three phases.

The notification for the third and final phase of elections, to be held on April 23, will be issued on March 28.

Remaining seven seats, namely Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Raigarh, Korba, Janjgir-Champa (SC) and Surguja (ST) will go to polls in the last phase.

Altogether, 1,91,06,285 voters, including 94,77,113 males, 94,38,463 females and 709 third gender voters, are eligible to exercise their franchise, Sahoo said.

In Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, 13,72,127 voters are eligible to cast vote in Bastar Lok Sabha constituency.

In the second phase, 48,95,719 voters are eligible to vote and in the final phase 1,26,48,439 voters, he added.

Altogether, 23,727 polling booths have been established for ensuring hassle-free and easy voting, which include 1878 polling booths for the first phase, 6486 booths for the second phase and 15,365 booths for the third phase, he added.