Raipur, Nov 16: The second and final phase of Chhattisgarh assembly elections for the remaining 70 seats will be held on Friday and decide the electoral fate of political heavyweights like Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, his deputy TS Singh Deo, eight state ministers and four members of Parliament.
The first phase of elections for 20 seats in the Naxal-affected state, which has a 90-member assembly, was held on November 7 and saw a high voter turnout of 78 per cent.
The ruling Congress, voted to office in 2018 after 15 years in opposition, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are the main contenders for power in the state, where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and some regional outfits are also in the fray.
While the Congress has set an ambitious target of winning 75-plus assembly seats, the opposition BJP is seeking to make a comeback to power in the state which it ruled for 15 years non-stop — from 2003 to 2018.
A total of 958 candidates — 827 men, 130 women and one transgender person — are contesting for 70 seats spread across 22 districts. As many as 1,63,14,479 voters — 81,41,624 men , 81,72,171 women and 684 of third gender — are eligible to exercise their franchise at 18,833 polling booths.
At 26, the Raipur City West seat has the highest number of contestants, while Dondilohara in Balod district has the lowest count of candidates at four.
Among the candidates, 70 each are from the BJP and the Congress. There are 43 nominees from the AAP, 62 from the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and 33 from the Hamar Raj Party in the fray. The Mayawati-led BSP and the Gondwana Ganatantra Party, a regional political outfit, are contesting in alliance and have fielded 43 and 26 candidates, respectively.
While the main fight is between bitter rivals BJP and the Congress, a three-way contest is on the cards in several seats of the Bilaspur division where former CM Ajit Jogi’s party and the BSP have pockets of influence. The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP has also been focusing on seats in the division.
Polling time in all the 70 constituencies is from 8 am to 5 pm, except in nine polling booths in the Naxal-affected Bindranawagarh seat in Rajim district, where voting will be held from 7 am to 3 pm for security reasons.
The booths in Bindranawagarh where voting will be held from 7 am to 3 pm are Kamarbhaudi, Amamora, Odh, Bade Gobra, Ganwargaon, Gariba, Nagesh, Sahbinkachhar and Kodomali.
Of the total 18,833 booths, 700 are “sangwari” polling booths which will be entirely managed by women personnel.
Baghel has been contesting from his traditional Patan seat where the BJP has fielded his distant nephew and party MP Vijay Baghel. The candidature of Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) state president and son of former chief minister Ajit Jogi, Amit Jogi, in Patan has added a new dimension to the contest.
Of the 70 assembly segments up for grabs, 44 are in general category, while 17 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and nine for Scheduled Castes. (PTI)
