Polling in the Indian states Chhattisgarh and Mizoram began on Tuesday. The polling in Chhattisgarh is for the first phase of the state assembly elections for 20 seats, while in Mizoram the polling is for all 40 seats.
In Chhattisgarh, the polling for 10 seats started at 7 a.m. (IST) and will end at 3 p.m. while for the other 10 seats it started at 8 a.m. and will conclude at 5 p.m.
The 10 seats where voting started at 7 in the morning include Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta while the other 10 where the voting began at 8 a.m. are Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Pandariya and Kawardha Bastar, Jagdalpur and Chitrakot.
The Congress had won 19 out of 20 seats in the previous state assembly polls held in 2018.
Despite the fact that security has been tightened in areas voting is taking place, two election agents and a Border Security Force (BSF) officer were injured in an IED blast in Kanker district in the south of India's state Chhattisgarh.
According to media reports, a total of 25,249 security personnel have been deployed in the regions where voting is underway.
The key candidates contesting in the first phase include former State Chief and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politician Raman Singh contesting against Chhattisgarh State Mineral Development Corporation chairman and Congress candidate Girish Dewangan on Ranjangaon seat.
Apart from this, the other key BJP candidates contesting in the first phase include four former ministers Lata Usendi (Kondagaon seat), Vikram Usendi (Antagarh), Kedar Kashyap (Narayanpur) and Mahesh Gagda (Bijapur), and former IAS officer Neelkanth Tekam from Keshkal.
On the other hand, the prominent candidates of the Congress include party’s state unit chief Deepak Baij from Chitrakoot, ministers Kawasi Lakhma (Konta), Mohan Markam (Kondagaon) and Mohammad Akbar (Kawardha) as well as Chhavindra Karma (Dantewada), the son of late politician Mahendra Karma.
Till 11 a.m., Chhattisgarh saw around 23 per cent voter turnout. The second phase of voting in Chhattisgarh will be on 17 November.
Mizoram State Assembly Polls
The polling for the 40-member Mizoram State Assembly began at 7 a.m. However, the campaigning in the state has been a low affair as it was done by various contenders only and almost no prominent politicians from BJP or Congress visited the state ahead of polls.
The Mizo National Front (MNF) had won in the previous state assembly polls held in 2018 as it emerged victorious on 26 seats out of 40 while Congress could win five and the BJP managed to win only one.
According to Mizoram Additional Chief Electoral Officer H. Lianzela polling in the state has been peaceful and there has been no law and order situation till now.
The ruling MNF, Zoram Peoples’ Movement and Congress are contesting on all the seats while BJP is contesting on 23 and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded its four candidates.
Till 11 a.m., the voting percentage in Mizoram was reported to be around 33 per cent.
Modi Urges Voters to Turn Out in Large Numbers
Before the polling commenced in both the states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the voters to turn out in large numbers and participate in the “festival of democracy”.
“I call upon the people of Mizoram to vote in record numbers. I particularly urge the young and first time voters to exercise their franchise and strengthen the festival of democracy,” Modi said in a tweet.
In another tweet in Hindi, he said: “Today is the day of sacred festival of democracy in Chhattisgarh. I request all the voters of the first phase of assembly elections to cast their vote and become participants of this festival. On this occasion, I congratulate all the young friends of the state who voted for the first time.”
The results of the elections will be announced on 3 December.