Raipur, October 20: A total of 294 candidates are in the fray for 20 Assembly seats after the deadline for filing nominations for the first phase of polls in Chhattisgarh ended on Friday, an official said. Of these, 254 papers were filed during the day, a statement from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer said. "With this, a total 294 candidates have filed 455 nomination papers for the first phase of polls. The nominations will be scrutinized on Saturday and the last date for withdrawal is October 23," it added.

State Congress chief Deepak Baij, ministers Kawasi Lakhma and Mohan Markam, Chhavindra Karma (son of late Congress leader Mahendra Karma) are among prominent candidates from the ruling Congress in the first phase. Former chief minister Raman Singh and former state ministers Kedar Kashyap, Lata Usendi, Vikram Usendi and Mahesh Gagda as well as former IAS officer Neelkanth Tekam are among key candidates from the BJP for this phase. The Congress has fielded its senior OBC leader Girish Dewangan, who is also chairman of Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation, against Raman Singh from Rajnandgaon. Naxal Violence in Chhattisgarh: Anurag Thakur Hails Centre for Dip in Naxal Menace in State; Says Bhupesh Baghel Government One of ‘Scams and Mafias’

Twenty constituencies in seven districts of Naxalite-affected Bastar division and Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki, Rajnandgaon, Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai and Kabirdham districts will go to polls on November 7. Of the 20 seats going to polls in the first phase, 12 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) while one for Scheduled Castes (SC). Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections 2023: ‘Abki Baar 75 Paar’, Says State Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu (Watch Video)

In the 2018 Assembly polls, the Congress had won 17 seats of these constituencies, while the BJP and Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) had got two and one, respectively. Later, the Congress won two out of three bypolls. Polls to the remaining 70 seats will take place on November 17, while counting of votes is on December 3. The opposition BJP has so far announced candidates on 86 seats, while the ruling Congress on 83 seats. There are 90 constituencies in the state.

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