Voting for 18 seats spread across eight Maoist-hit districts began on Monday amid tight security. These districts include 12 constituencies in Bastar division and six in Rajnandagoan.
Of the 18 seats, eight are held by the Congress and the rest by the BJP. The last phase of the campaign had witnessed bitter political sparring between BJP and Congress.
Naxal outfits have given calls for a boycott of the election and have executed many attacks in previous days. Both the BJP and Congress have been intensely campaigning in the state with top leadership from both parties, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, addressing a series of rallies to woo the voters.
In their manifestos, both BJP and Congress have made promises for welfare of the farmers and the youth.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged Chhatisgarh residents to exercise their democratic rights and cast their votes with full enthusiasm.
“The first phase of voting in Chhattisgarh is today. I urge all voters to take part in the mahaparav of democracy with full enthusiasm and to vote in huge numbers,” Modi tweeted.
The election in the second phase will be held on November 20 and the counting of votes will take place on December 11.
