Rajnandgaon (Chhattisgarh) [India], November 7 (ANI): Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh performed pooja at his residence as voting commenced on Tuesday morning in 20 assembly constituencies in the State, including Rajnandgaon.
The BJP leader is seeking re-election from Rajnandgaon, which is the biggest town in the region, and the district headquarters to which Singh has had a connection with for the last 25 years.
Singh first made his mark in this seat, beating Congress in 1998, and becoming a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet.
He has fought the assembly polls since 2008 from Rajnandgaon and in 2018 beat Congress with a margin of just short of 17000 votes.
State Congress’s general secretary Girish Dewangan, a member of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) is pitted against Raman in this seat
Voting for the first phase of the Chattisgarh Assembly Elections, involving 20 of the 90 assembly seats in the state’s southern region, began today.
Voting process for ten seats began at 7 a.m. amid tight security. These included Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta.
The polling for the remaining assembly constituencies, which include Pandaria, Kawardha, Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur, and Chitrakote commenced at 8 am and will continue until 5 pm.
While 12 of the seats fall in the left-wing extremism hit Bastar, eight others are in the four districts in and around Rajnandgaon – that have historically had the shadow of Raman Singh.
The elections are being held in two phases, with the second phase scheduled for November 17. The results will be declared on December 3.
To ensure a secure voting process, over 600 polling booths in sensitive areas, particularly in the Naxal-hit Bastar division, have been provided with three-layered security cover.
To conduct free and fair elections in the state, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have been deployed to augment the local police force in the state.
Kanker Collector Priyanka Shukla said, “This time tight security arrangements have been made in the most Naxal-affected areas, while some polling centres will also be monitored with drones.”
Polling teams reached all the polling stations of Kanker district on Monday. (ANI)
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