Chhattisgarh elections 2023: Amit Shah to address two BJP rallies in Bastar

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address two rallies in Chhattisgarh's Bastar division, where polling will be held in the first phase on November 7

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address two rallies in Chhattisgarh's Bastar division on Thursday, where polling will be held on November 7. Ahead of the Assembly elections, this will be Shah's second visit to the state after the announcement of the election schedule for the 90-member Assembly.

Shah earlier addressed an election rally in Rajnandgaon on October 16.

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said that the union home minister will arrive at the Maa Danteshwari Airport in Jagdalpur shortly after noon. Shah will attend a public meeting and nomination rally at Lalbagh Maidan in Jagdalpur after his arrival. He will later leave for Kondagaon, where he will attend an election meeting and nomination rally at the Police Ground complex.

In the first phase, polling will be held in 20 Assembly segments — Konta, Bijapur, Dantewada, Chitrakot, Jagdalpur, Bastar, Narayanpur, Kondagaon, Keshkal, Kanker, Bhanupratappur, Antagarh, Mohla-Manpur, Khujji, Dongargaon, Rajnandgaon, Dongargarh, Khairagarh, Kawardha, and Pandariya.

The remaining 70 seats will be covered in the second phase. The Congress party has declared candidates for 83 out of the 90 seats. The BJP has announced its candidates for 86 seats, including all 20 going to polls in the first phase.

In the 2018 elections, the Congress registered a landslide victory, winning 68 of the 90 seats. The BJP, which had ruled the state for 15 years (2003-2018), was reduced to five seats, while the JCC (J) and the BSP bagged five and two seats, respectively.

Voting in the state will be held in two phases on November 7 and 17.