Chhatisgarh Assembly elections update

Polling moves forward amidst Maoists’ boycott call in 18 Assembly constituencies of Chhattisgarh, on Monday.

This is the first phase of Assembly elections in the State where 190 candidates are in the fray and as per electoral rolls, there are 31,80,014 voters.

Voting began at 7 am in 10 out 18 constituencies, while in the remaining areas it is from 8 am to 5 pm.

An improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated by Naxals in Dantewada district.

A police official said Naxals, who had called for a boycott of the polls, detonated the IED early morning, but no casualty was reported.

“The explosion took place around 5.30 am on Tumakpal-Nayanar road when a team of security men was escorting polling personnel to their booth,” a senior police official said.

“No harm was caused to the security and polling personnel in the explosion. The polling party safely reached the Nayanar polling booth in Katekalyan area,” he added.

Police said one kilogram of explosives were seized in Bijapur district. Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to come out in large numbers to exercise their franchise.

Here are the live updates:

The Chief Electoral Officer has said 22.5% votes have been polled till 12 noon.