Chhattisgarh: Ballot Over Bullet As 70 Per Cent Of People Turn Up To Vote Battling Maoist Threats

Defying Maoist threats, Chhattisgarh turned up to vote in huge numbers in the first phase of assembly polls on Monday. According to Election officials, the percentage was 70 per cent in this phase, as reported by LiveMint.

The first phase included districts of Rajnandgaon, Kanker, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Jagdalpur, Bastar, Sukma, Dantewada and Bijapur, which cover 18 out of the 90 assembly seats.

The biggest takeaway was the high percentage of voting in Maoist controlled areas, such as Chintagufa in the Sukma District. Chief Electoral Officer Subrat Sahoo said, “In Palamguda, deep inside the core Maoist areas in Sukma district, 44 persons voted for the first time. In Mulad and Nilabhaya in Dantewada, 10 and 19 persons voted respectively,” as reported by The Hindu.

Naxals impeded the polling by triggering an improvised explosive device (IED) at Katekalyan in Dantewada before voting began. A skirmish also broke off between the Left Wing Extremists and COBRA arm of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in which five CRPF personnel were injured, and 10 Naxals were killed.

According to state election commission data, a total of 190 candidates participated in the first phase which had 1.62 million women and 1.55 million men voting in 4,300 polling booths across the state. Bastar and Rajnandgaon regions have 3.18 million voters.

Senior state police said that the overall security was upgraded and election officials were given enhanced security cover.

“Drones have been deployed in several areas to check movement. We have deployed 650 companies of paramilitary personnel, electoral officials have been airlifted to very sensitive spots, and all routes are being combed to check for any traps being laid by Maoists,” said superintendent of police (Dantewada) Abhishek Pallav.

The second and final phase of voting will be held on 20 November. The polls in Chhattisgarh heralds the start of the series of assembly elections in 2018, with polls scheduled to be held in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram.