Voters queue up at a polling booth in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh
Voting was sluggish in Bastar Lok Sabha constituency's Maoist-dominated forested areas in Chhattisgarh, but the urban centres reported brisk polling.
A Chhattisgarh Election Commission official said that till 10 am, 18-20 per cent votes had been cast and polling was peaceful. (Chhattisgarh: 3 jawans escorting poll officials killed by Naxals)
There was a healthy turnout of voters in urban areas like Jagdalpur town.
However, the enthusiasm was comparatively much less in the interior, forested areas which are dominated by Maoists. The polling was slow. (India Votes 2014: full coverage)
Over 1.29 million voters will decide the fate of eight candidates in the constituency where roughly 80 per cent of the total 1,797 polling booths have been declared 'ultra-sensitive'. The remaining 10 seats will go to polls on April 17 and April 24.
Bastar, which comprises six assembly segments, has a higher number of female voters (665,290) than male voters (633,681).
The main contest is between Bharatiya Janata Party nominee and sitting Member of Parliament Dinesh Kashyap and Congress candidate Deepak Karma, son of late Mahendra Karma, the founder of the controversial Salwa Judum civil militia movement. (India Votes 2014: schedule)
Aam Aadmi Party's Soni Sori, a tribal woman from the district now on bail after facing charges of acting as a conduit for Maoists, is also in the fray.
A Chhattisgarh Election Commission official said that till 10 am, 18-20 per cent votes had been cast and polling was peaceful. (Chhattisgarh: 3 jawans escorting poll officials killed by Naxals)
There was a healthy turnout of voters in urban areas like Jagdalpur town.
However, the enthusiasm was comparatively much less in the interior, forested areas which are dominated by Maoists. The polling was slow. (India Votes 2014: full coverage)
Over 1.29 million voters will decide the fate of eight candidates in the constituency where roughly 80 per cent of the total 1,797 polling booths have been declared 'ultra-sensitive'. The remaining 10 seats will go to polls on April 17 and April 24.
Bastar, which comprises six assembly segments, has a higher number of female voters (665,290) than male voters (633,681).
The main contest is between Bharatiya Janata Party nominee and sitting Member of Parliament Dinesh Kashyap and Congress candidate Deepak Karma, son of late Mahendra Karma, the founder of the controversial Salwa Judum civil militia movement. (India Votes 2014: schedule)
Aam Aadmi Party's Soni Sori, a tribal woman from the district now on bail after facing charges of acting as a conduit for Maoists, is also in the fray.
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