Raipur, November 6: The first phase of polling for the assembly elections in Chhattisgarh is set to be held on Tuesday. There are a total of 90 legislative assembly seats in Chhattisgarh, of which 20 seats will be witnessing the polls in the first phase on November 7, while the remaining 70 seats will undergo polling on November 17. The 20 seats that will be contested on November 7 are Pandariya, Kawardha, Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Bastar, Jagdalpur, Chitrakot, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta.

The BJP and Congress are the key contenders in the Chhattisgarh assembly elections and both sides have released their final list of candidates for the 90 seats. The key candidates in the fray are Raman Singh (BJP), Bhawna Bohra (BJP), Lata Usendi (BJP), Gautam Uike (BJP), Mohammad Akbar (Congress), Savitri Manoj Mandavi (Congress), Mohan Markam (Congress), Vikram Mandavi (Congress) and Kawasi Lakhma (Congress). Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections 2023: First Phase of Vidhan Sabha Polls on November 7; More Than 25,000 Officials, 60,000 Security Personnel in Place

BJP has fielded former Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh from the Patan assembly constituency, where he will be contesting against Congress' Girish Dewangan. Another key player from the BJP in the first phase of the Chhattisgarh assembly polls is Bhawna Bohra, who will be contesting from the Pandariya seat against Congress' Neelu Chandravanshi. Bhawna Bohra is recognised for her dedication to social work and she is popularly known among people as 'Ambulance Wali Didi'. Bhawna has a significant background in both social service and politics, with active involvement in the Kavardha and Bemetra districts.

Congress leader Mohammad Akbar is also one of the key players, as he is the only Muslim candidate in the Chhattisgarh assembly elections. He will be contesting from the Kawardha assembly constituency, where he contested for the first time in 2018 and emerged victorious against the BJP's Ashok Sahu, despite the seat having a significant population of Sahus. Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections 2023: When Is Voting and Result? How To Vote, Check Name in Voter List? How To Find Polling Station? Know Everything Here

Savitri Manoj Mandavi is yet another important leader who has been fielded by the Congress in the Bhanupratappur constituency against the BJP's Gautam Uike. Savitri Manoj Mandavi is the wife of late Congress MLA Manoj Mandavi, who secured a win from the seat in 2018.

After the death of Manoj Mandavi, his wife took charge of the constituency as an MLA after securing a win in the 2022 Bhanupratappur bye-elections. Meanwhile, the Congress party has retained Kawasi Lakhma as its candidate from Konta, who is also the incumbent MLA from the constituency. The BJP has fielded Soyam Muka from Konta.

The Kondagaon seat is currently held by former state Congress chief Mohan Markam, who defeated the BJP's tribal woman leader and former minister Lata Usendi from here in 2013 and 2018 and they both are all set for their third face-off in the constituency.

Of the 20 seats that are scheduled to undergo polling in the first phase on November 7, Congress emerged victorious on 17 seats in the 2018 Chhattisgarh assembly elections, while the BJP had won only two of these 20 seats and one seat was won by the Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC).

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