Preparations at a polling booth on the eve of Chhattisgarh Assembly elections at Jagdalpur in Bastar district.
Credit: PTI Photo
As Chhattisgarh goes to poll starting on Tuesday with November 7 being the first phase of the two-phased election in the state, the relatively new state has so far seen four elections, starting from the year 2003. The state came to be formed on November 1 in 2000 under the Article 3 of the Indian Constitution and it became the 26th state of the country.
Let's take a look at the first ever elections held in the state.
Electors, votes polled and percentage:
Chhattisgarh saw a total of 1,35,43,656 electors in 2003 for its 90 Assembly seats. The total number of votes polled were 96,56,162 and the turnout percentage was locked at 71.3.
Party-wise share of votes:
In the 2003 poll, the BJP won 50 seats while the Congress managed to secure 37. The Mayawati-led BSP won 2 seats while NCP managed to secure only 1 seat, thereby making BJP the obvious choice to form the government in the state, with Raman Singh replacing Congress party's Ajit Jogi who had been the new state's chief minister since being carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000.
Poll preparations for Nov 7
Voting for the first phase of Assembly polls for 20 seats, several of them in the Naxal-affected Bastar division in Chhattisgarh will take place on Tuesday, with poll officials stating that 25,249 personnel have been deployed for the purpose.
Chhattisgarh Congress chief and MP Deepak Baij (Chitrakot), ministers Kawasi Lakhma (Konta), Mohan Markam (Kondagaon) and Mohammad Akbar (Kawardha) as well as Chhavindra Karma (Dantewada). who is the son of late leader Mahendra Karma, are among prominent candidates from the ruling party in the first phase.
For the BJP, former chief minister Raman Singh is contesting from Ranjangaon against the Congress' Girish Dewangan, chairman of Chhattisgarh State Mineral Development Corporation.