Voting in Chhattisgarh & Madhya Pradesh 2023: Security beefed up in both states

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Voting in Chhattisgarh & Madhya Pradesh 2023: Ahead of the voting in Chhattishgarh and Madhya Pradesh on Friday, the security in many parts of the two states has been beefed up.

In Madhya Pradesh, the police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel conducted a flag march in Indore ahead of the Assembly election on November 17, according to the ANI.

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Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abhishek Anand told the ANI, the main motive of the flag march is to make people feel safe to exercise their franchise freely.

"The main motive of the flag march is that people can vote freely in the Assembly elections and exercise their constitutional rights... In critical areas, we are talking to people to make them feel safe," the DCP told ANI.

Meanwhile, the election campaigning for the assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh concluded on Wednesday.

On the last day of the campaign, the top leaders of the Congress and the BJP reached the state for public rallies.

Meanwhile, the second and final phase of Chhattisgarh assembly elections for the remaining 70 seats will be held on Friday and decide the electoral fate of political heavyweights.

The first phase of elections for 20 seats in the Naxal-affected state, which has a 90-member assembly, was held on November 7 and saw a high voter turnout of 78 per cent.

The ruling Congress, voted to office in 2018 after 15 years in opposition, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are the main contenders for power in the state, where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and some regional outfits are also in the fray, reported the PTI.

While the Congress has set an ambitious target of winning 75-plus assembly seats, the opposition BJP is seeking to make a comeback to power in the state which it ruled for 15 years non-stop -- from 2003 to 2018.

A total of 958 candidates -- 827 men, 130 women and one transgender person -- are contesting for 70 seats spread across 22 districts. As many as 1,63,14,479 voters -- 81,41,624 men , 81,72,171 women and 684 of third gender -- are eligible to exercise their franchise at 18,833 polling booths.

At 26, the Raipur City West seat has the highest number of contestants, while Dondilohara in Balod district has the lowest count of candidates at four.

Among the candidates, 70 each are from the BJP and the Congress. There are 43 nominees from the AAP, 62 from the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and 33 from the Hamar Raj Party in the fray. The Mayawati-led BSP and the Gondwana Ganatantra Party, a regional political outfit, are contesting in alliance and have fielded 43 and 26 candidates, respectively, as per the PTI.

(with ANI and PTI inputs)