Voters in Chh’garh, Mizoram to decide fate of candidates today amid tight security
Aizawl/Raipur: After a high-decibel election campaign, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram will cast votes amid tight security on Tuesday to decide the fate of hundreads of candidates in the fray.
In Chhattisgarh, voting will be held for the first phase of Assembly polls for 20 seats, several of them in Naxal-affected Bastar division. Poll officials stated that 25,249 personnel have been deployed for the purpose.
Voting will be held between 7am and 3pm in 10 seats, namely Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta, they said.
Votes will be cast between 8am and 5pm in Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Pandariya and Kawardha Bastar, Jagdalpur and Chitrakot, the officials added.
In the first phase, the fate of 223 candidates, including 25 women, will be decided by an estimated 40,78,681 voters, comprising 19,93,937 male, 20,84,675 female and 69 third-gender persons. As many as 5304 polling booths have been set up for the first phase.
A release issued from the office of the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said 25,429 polling personnel have been deployed for the first phase of polls.
“A total of 156 poll parties have been sent to Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Kanker and Narayanpur districts on board helicopters, while 5,148 polling teams have been sent to respective booths by buses. Of the 5,304 booths, web casting facility will be available in 2431,” the release said.
A senior police official said 60,000 security personnel, including 40,000 from Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), have been deployed for smooth conduct of polls in 12 constituencies of Naxal-hit Bastar division.
Of the 20 seats, 12 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and one for the Scheduled Caste category. The highest number of contestants is in Rajnandgaon constituency (29) while the lowest number of candidates is seven each in Chitrakot and Dantewada seats, polls officials said.
Chhattisgarh Congress chief and MP Deepak Baij (Chitrakot), ministers Kawasi Lakhma (Konta), Mohan Markam (Kondagaon) and Mohammad Akbar (Kawardha) as well as Chhavindra Karma (Dantewada). who is the son of late leader Mahendra Karma, are among prominent candidates from the ruling party in the first phase. For the BJP, former chief minister Raman Singh is contesting from Ranjangaon against the Congress’ Girish Dewangan, chairman of Chhattisgarh State Mineral Development Corporation.
Other prominent faces from the saffron party include four former ministers Lata Usendi (Kondagaon seat), Vikram Usendi (Antagarh), Kedar Kashyap (Narayanpur) and Mahesh Gagda (Bijapur), as well as former IAS officer Neelkanth Tekam from Keshkal.
In Mizoram, over 8.57 lakh voters gear up to decide the
electoral fate of 174 candidates, amid tight security arrangements put in place.
Voting will begin in all 1,276 polling stations across Mizoram at 7 am and continue till 4 pm, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Madhup Vyas said. The votes will be counted on December 3.
Of these, 149 are remote polling stations, while 30 voting centres along the inter-state and international borders have been declared critical and vulnerable, another senior official said.
He said the 510-km-long international border with Myanmar and 318-km boundary with Bangladesh have been sealed ahead of polling for the 40-member Mizoram Assembly.
Assam Rifles is managing the Myanmar border, while BSF is in charge of the international border with Bangladesh.
Besides, the inter-state boundaries with three districts of Assam, two with Manipur and one with Tripura have also been closed.
Security has been tightened across the state, with around 3,000 policemen and a large contingent of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) deployed for the polls, officials said.
A total of 174 candidates, including 18 women, are in the fray.
The ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), main opposition party Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) and Congress have fielded 40 candidates each.
The BJP and debutant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are contesting in 23 and 4 seats, respectively.
There are 27 candidates, who are contesting as independents.
Altogether, 8,57,063 electorate, including 4,39,026 female voters, are eligible to exercise their franchise in the Mizoram Assembly polls.
