Chhattisgarh polls: Naxals trying to spread fear among people but voters are enthusiastic, says CEC

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Raipur: Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat on Sunday called the death of a BSF personnel in a Naxal attack unfortunate. Speaking on the Naxal-triggered IED blast that took place earlier in the day, he further said the Naxals were trying to spread fear among people in the area. Despite this, there is enthusiasm among voters, Rawat added.

"Today's incident was unfortunate in which one BSF personnel died. With this attack, the Naxals were trying to spread fear among people in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) area but there is enthusiasm among voters," OP Rawat told news agency ANI.

Earlier in the day, a BSF jawan was killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast following a Naxal attack at Kanker district in election-bound Chhattisgarh.

A team of the Border Security Force (BSF) was out on an area domination operation when the Naxals attacked and set off the IED in a forest between Kattakal and Gome villages, located around 200 km from here, Kanker Superintendent of Police K L Dhruv told news agency PTI. Sub-inspector Mahendra Singh who had earlier sustained injuries in the explosion succumbed later.

A set of six IEDs were planted in a series and were set off in one go between the villages of Gome and Gattakal in Koyali beda.

Polling parties are, meanwhile, being sent to their destination amid a tight security cover across the state. 

The 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly will go to polls in two phases - on November 12 and November 20 while the results will be announced on December 11. 

The first phase of polls on Monday will cover 18 constituencies of eight Naxal-affected districts that include Bastar, Kanker, Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Rajnandgaon.