Chhattisgarh polls: final phase today

Voting in Chhattisgarh for the second and final phase of Assembly election began at 8 am today for 72 seats across 19 districts. Till 10 am, about 12.54 per cent voting have been recorded.

 Total of 1,079 candidates are in the fray in Chhattisgarh election, and both Congress and BJP are contesting all the 72 seats. BSP is in the fray for 25 seats and its ally and former Chief Minister Jogi’s Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) is vying in 46 seats. The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded candidates in 66 constituencies. In 2013, the BJP with 41.04 per cent vote share had own 49 seat, while the Congress won 38 seats with a vote share of 40.29 per cent in the 90-member Assembly.

Among the prominent faces in fray in the last phase are state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel (Patan), Leader of Opposition in the Assembly T.S. Singh Deo (Ambikapur) and former Union Minister Charandas Mahant (Shakti).