Chhattisgarh assembly polls: PM Narendra Modi urges voters to participate in 'festival of democracy'

NEW DELHI: As 18 constituencies went to polls in the first phase of assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday appealed to the voters to come out in large numbers to exercise their franchise.

PM Modi took to Twitter and requested voters of the state to participate in large numbers in "the festival of democracy".

छत्तीसगढ़ में मतदान का आज पहला चरण है। सभी मतदाताओं से मेरा आग्रह है कि वे पूरे उत्साह के साथ लोकतंत्र के महापर्व में अवश्य भाग लें और भारी संख्या में मतदान करें। — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 12, 2018

On election days, the Prime Minister often takes to Twitter urging people to vote in large numbers.

In the first phase, voting is being held 18 out of 90 seats in Chhattisgarh.

An improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated by Naxals in Dantewada district shortly after the voting began.

A police official said Naxals, who had called for a boycott of the polls, detonated the IED early morning, but no casualty was reported.

A thick security blanket, comprising over 1.25 lakh police and paramilitary personnel, was thrown across the 18 constituencies as they fall under the Naxal-hit areas of Bastar, Kanker, Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Rajnandgaon districts.

Polling in 10 constituencies - Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta - started at 7 AM and would conclude at 3 PM, an election official said.

In the other eight constituencies - Khairgarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur and Chitrakot - voting began at 8 AM and would end at 5 PM, he said.
Among the prominent candidates in the first phase were Chief Minister Raman Singh, ministers Kedar Kashyap (Narayanpur) and Mahesh Gagda (Bijpaur) and Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Kanker Lok Sabha seat MP Vikram Usendi (Antagarh).

Nine sitting Congress MLAs - Manoj Singh Mandavi (Bhanupratappur), Mohan Lal Markam (Kondagaon), Lakheshwar Baghel (Bastar), Deepak Kumar Baij (Chitrakot), Devati Karma (Dantewada), Kawasi Lakhma (Konta), Girwar Janghel (Khairagarh), Santram Netam (Keshkal) and Daleshwar Sahu (Dongargaon) - were also in the fray.

Of the 18 seats going to polling in the first phase, 12 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs) while one is for Scheduled Caste (SC) category.

The second phase of polling in 72 seats, out of the 90-member Assembly, would be held on November 20 and counting of votes would take place on December 11. 

(With PTI Inputs)