Expressing his confidence in BJP's victory in the Assembly election in Chhattisgarh, former Chief Minister Raman Singh said that the saffron party will win at least 14 out of 20 seats in the first phase.
"The first phase of elections has been held in which 12 seats are of Bastar and 8 of Rajnandgaon. Voting has taken place in 20 assembly seats. BJP is winning at least 14 seats out of 20 on which voting is taking place in the first phase," Raman Singh said.
The polling started at 7 am for ten seats - Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta.
Voting for the remaining assembly constituencies - Pandaria, Kawardha, Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur, and Chitrakote began at 8 am.
Speaking on the Maoist attack during the election time in the state, Raman Singh said 'Naxalites boycott elections, commit violence and make strategies to create pressure, but democracy cannot be suppressed like this. The public is also aware."
"There is a 30 per cent share of (Chhattisgarh CM) Bhupesh Baghel in the Mahadev betting App (scam), PM Modi has made that clear. ED has proved it, a money transaction of Rs 508 crores is clearly visible," he added.
The polling will decide the electoral fate of former Chief Minister Raman Singh and BJP leaders Bhawna Bohra, Lata Usendi and Gautam Uike. The prominent Congress leaders in the fray in this phase include Mohammad Akbar, Savitri Manoj Mandavi, Mohan Markam, Vikram Mandavi and Kawasi Lakhma.
A total of 223 candidates, including 25 women, are in the fray in the first phase of Chhattisgarh polls. The Election Commission set up 5,304 polling booths for this phase in the state. The polling is taking place in the Maoist-affected region of the state apart from some other seats.
Voting in the remaining 70 seats in Chhattisgarh will be held on November 17. Counting of votes will be taken up on December 3 in Mizoram and Chhattisgarh along with the three other states.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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