Day ahead of Chhattisgarh polls, Naxals spotted in Dantewada; security tightened

A day ahead of the first phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly elections, security forces on Sunday have found evidence of the Naxal presence in Dantewada district.

Several pictures of the Naxals were captured using drone cameras. The security forces are now engaged in area domination.

Naxal outfits have given calls for a boycott of the elections and have released posters warning people not to participate in the elections. 

Incidentally, Naxals in Kanker district killed a BSF jawan by triggering a series of six IED blasts. In Bijapur district, a Maoist was killed after an encounter with security forces.

As many as 18 sensitive assembly seats spread in eight districts of Chhattisgarh will go to polls in the first phase of assembly elections. Around 1 lakh security personnel have been deployed in Chhattisgarh for smooth conduct of the polls.

Around 650 polling booth parties were airlifted by helicopters to remote areas while other teams sent by road on Sunday. Indian Air Force (IAF) and BSF choppers were pressed into service for the purpose. Forces that had arrived from other states have been advised to avoid using any road unless it had been sanitised by "road opening parties" (ROPs) or had been subject to a de-mining exercise to detect and clear IEDs.

Police have been asked to maintain a strict vigil on the borders with Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

Polling in 10 seats Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta will start at 7 am and end at 3 pm. In the other eight seats  Khairgarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur and Chitrakot the polling time will be 8 am to 5 pm. 

The first phase of Chhattisgarh elections is scheduled to take place on Monday and the second phase on November 20. The counting of the votes will be done on December 11.

Chief Minister Raman Singh is hoping to continue his victory spree from the Rajnandgaon seat for the third consecutive term. This time he is seeking re-election against Karuna Shukla of the Congress party, who is the niece of former Prime Minister and prominent BJP leader late Atal Bihari Vajpayee. 

Shukla was a BJP Member of Parliament from Janjjir Lok Sabha constituency but she left the party in 2013 and joined the Congress in 2014. The same year during the General Elections while contesting on the Congress ticket from Bilaspur, she lost to the BJP candidate Lakhanlal Sahu. 

Since then, she has been actively engaged in the state politics, particularly in Rajnandgaon. At present, the Congress rules over 39 seats in the state, while the ruling BJP holds 49 seats in the region.