Mizoram, Chhattisgarh record over 70% polling

Mizoram registers 76% polling; Chhattisgarh brings in 71% in 20 seats; 3 security personnel injured in bomb blast and gun battle as all 12 Assembly seats in Maoist-affected Bastar votes in first phase

Kick-starting crucial State polls perceived to be semi-finals before the 2024 general election, voting took place in all 40 Assembly seats in Mizoram on Tuesday, as well as in the first phase of polling in Chhattisgarh, which was marred by sporadic violence. Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel claimed that some Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel had threatened voters not to exercise their franchise.

While Mizoram recorded more than 76% polling by 4 p.m., about 71% of voters had exercised their franchise by 5 p.m. in the 20 Assembly seats of Chhattisgarh which went to the polls in the first phase. “The voting percentage is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations, including interior and inaccessible polling stations comes in,” the Election Commission of India said.

For all five States going to the polls this month — Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telanagana — the counting of votes will be held on December 3.

At least three security personnel were injured in violent incidents in the Maoist-affected Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, where all 12 Assembly seats voted in the first phase. An inspector from the elite CoBRA unit of the CRPF was injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast triggered by Naxalites in Sukma district.

Encounters were reported between the police and the Maoists in Sukma, Narayanpur and Kanker districts of the Bastar region. Two jawans sustained injuries in a gun battle in Sukma’s Minpa area, where voting was held for the first time since the State was formed. In fact, polling stations were set up in 126 villages in seven districts affected by Left Wing Extremism for the first time since Independence, the ECI said.

The Congress, which is seeking another term in Chhattisgarh, and the opposition BJP, are the main contenders for power in the State.

At a rally in Surajpur district of the State, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the State’s Congress government of failing to contain Naxalism. Whenever the Congress comes to power at the Centre, Naxalites and terrorists get emboldened, the PM said. He also targeted the Chief Minister over the alleged Mahadev betting app scam and other accusations of corruption.