Raipur, Oct 27 (PTI) Chief Minister Raman Singh on Saturday kicked-off the ruling BJP's Assembly election campaign from Konta constituency in Sukma district of south Chhattisgarh where polling would be held on November 12.

A total of 18 constituencies of eight Naxal-affected districts in the state will go to the polls in the first phase.

"Congress had never conceived of the development which has taken place in the district. I appeal people to vote for BJP and ensure that the district sees four times more development in the next five years," Singh said at a public meeting at Dornapal, 40 km from Sukma district headquarters.

"We have set ourselves a target of winning 65-plus seats this time, and Konta is one of them," Singh said, seeking votes for BJP candidate Dhaniram Barse.

Barse has been pitted against senior Congress leader and sitting MLA Kawasi Lakhma.

Speaking at Geedam in Dantewada assembly segment, Singh said the Congress, during its 55 years of rule at the centre, did nothing for the tribals of the region.

The BJP government introduced several initiatives for uplift of the poor and the tribal communities, he said.

Dantewada was once known as a backward and naxal-affected district but now has a new identity, Singh claimed.

The district is now known as an education hub, he said, campaigning for BJP candidate Bheema Mandavi who is taking on sitting Congress MLA Devti Karma from Dantewada.

Later, Singh addressed two more public meetings in Bagmohlai in Bastar and Madlapal in Narayanpur Assembly segment, a BJP spokesperson here said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing a rally in Jagdalpur on November 9, Singh announced.

Of the 18 seats going to polls in the first phase, 12 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and one for Scheduled Castes.

The stakes are very high for ruling BJP in these 18 seats, as it had lost 12 of them in the last polls in 2013.

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