News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp
Rediff.com  » News » Chhattisgarh set for second round of polling

Chhattisgarh set for second round of polling

Source: PTI
November 19, 2008 13:18 IST
Get Rediff News in your Inbox:

Elections for 51 seats in the 90-member House, in eight districts of Chhattisgarh will be held on Wednesday during the second phase of Assembly polls in the state.

Electoral fortunes of 687 candidates, including 50 women, will be sealed in the EVMs on Thursday with 88,14,228 voters expected to exercise their franchise.

Besides former Chief minister Ajit Jogi and his wife Renu Jogi, prominent leaders who are in the fray include BJP state president Vishnudeo Sai, Deputy Speaker Badridhar Diwan, Home minister Ramvichar Netam, Health minister Amar Agrawal, Dilipsingh Judeo's son Yudhvir Singh Judeo and former Home minister Nand Kumar Patel.

Voting will be held for six scheduled caste, 15 scheduled tribe and 30 unreserved seats on Thursday.

There are 12,073 polling stations across the eight districts -- Raipur, Bilaspur, Korba, Raigarh, Sarguja, Koria, Jashpur and Janjgir and Champa, where elections will be held amid tight security.

As many as 2608 booths have been classified as sensitive and 355 booths as hypersensitive.

Congress is contesting from 48 seats while BJP and BSP have fielded candidates from all the 51 seats where as Samajwadi Party is contesting from 31, NCP (3), Shiv Sena (32), Gondwana Ganatantra Party (35), Lok Janshakti Party (17), Bharatiya Janshakti Party (19), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (14), CPI (18), CPI-M (1) and Republican Party of India from 10 constituencies.

Besides, there are 235 independent candidates in the fray.

In the second phase, Kasdol constituency is the largest in terms of area and electorate where as Manendragarh is the smallest.

Bhatgaon tops the list of maximum number of candidates from a constituency with 29 candidates in the electoral fray whereas Pathalgaon figures at the bottom with just seven candidates.

Voting for 39 Assembly seats was held in the first phase on November 14.

The first phase of polls in Chhattisgarh, which registered 55 per cent turnout, was marred with disruptions and Naxal violence, in which one CRPF personnel was killed in Dantewada district.

Also, four security personnel were injured in two landmine blasts near Gorkha and Chintalnar and over a dozen Electronic Voting Machines were looted in Dantewada and Narayanpur districts.

Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Source: PTI© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.