Voting for Dantewada bypoll on Monday, security stepped up

Voting for the by-election in the Naxal-affected Dantewada Assembly constituency of Chhattisgarh will be held on Monday amid heightened security.

Total nine candidates are in fray for the bypoll which was necessitated following the death of sitting BJP legislator Bhima Mandavi in a Naxal attack in April this year.

The main opposition BJP in the state is fighting to retain the seat, reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates.

"All preparations have been done for conducting a free and fair by-election in Dantewada," state's Chief Electoral Officer Subrat Sahoo told reporters here on Sunday.

There are total 1,88,263 voters, including 89,747 men and 98,876 women, in the constituency where 273 polling stations have been established.

"Voting will be held from 7 am till 3 pm. Elaborate security arrangements have been made for conducting the bypoll," he said.

Nearly 18,000 security personnel, including paramilitary forces, have been deployed in the Naxal-infested Assembly segment, which is part of the Bastar region, a senior police official here said.

Besides, drones will also keep a hawk eye to track the movement of Naxals, especially in areas close to the polling booths and camps of security forces, he said.

As many as 1,302 polling personnel have already left for their respective booths, he said.

Both the leading parties have fielded candidates who have been victims of Naxal violence.

The Congress has nominated Devti Karma, wife of senior Congress leader Mahendra Karma who was killed in the Jhiram Valley attack by Naxals in 2013, against BJP's Ojaswi Mandavi, wife of slain MLA Bhima Mandavi.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, Devti Karma lost to Bhima Mandavi by a thin margin of 2,172 votes.

In the state polls held last year for the 90-member Assembly, the Congress won 68 seats and the BJP bagged 15.

The Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) bagged five and two seats, respectively.