Tag: Chhattisgarh assembly elections 2018

Chhattisgarh’s Bhupesh Baghel Has Taken on Modi Like No Congress Leader Before

From registering complaints against the PM’s rhetoric with the EC to skilfully pressurising the opposition in his state, Bhupesh Baghel has proven his mettle several times.

It’s perhaps time to reassess Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. A one-term minister in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and a successful Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee president, Baghel was obdurately anti-upper caste, impatient with bureaucracy and slow to warm up to fresh ideas and new people.

Rooted in rustic manners and deriving energy from his native intelligence, Baghel is a steadfast Congressman. He is junior to Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, his own guru Digvijay Singh and Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot by several years. So what’s driving him to challenge the prime minister in ways that no Congress leader has dared to?

David vs Goliath

This week, he was at the Election Commission in Delhi with a small team of lawyers and supporters to register a complaint against Modi for his vitriolic speech in Balod, Chhattisgarh. Modi, he complained was seeking votes in the name of Pulwama victims and Balakot airstrike which was patently against the EC guidelines.

Also read: Baghel: The Man Who Helped the Congress Rise like a Phoenix in Chhattisgarh

A few days earlier, he mail-ordered a hand-held mirror from Amazon to the prime minister’s residence. Immediately afterwards he tweeted, “This is for you to look at yourself before you leave home”. A couple of days later, he tweeted that he has gotten confirmation that the mirror has been received.

Why is he taking on the prime minister? Will playing David against a Goliath with such cheekiness jog along his politics? Is he seeking attention or is he being led to his hara-kiri altar? Whatever the reasons behind his adrenalin, Baghel has shown unusual spunk for a Congress chief minister. Despite his initial stumbling against a bureaucratic environment, he has managed to cage the main BJP leaders which no one else in the neighbouring states has done or is even attempting to do.

Immediately on his ascension to the post of chief minister, he ordered Special Investigative Teams to probe cases against people close to ex-chief minister Raman Singh, including his son-in-law Dr Puneet Gupta, his principal secretary Aman Singh and ADG Mukesh Gupta. These probes are now coming in handy to put pressure on opponents, similar to the way that the Modi government had done through the ED and CBI. All those named above are either absconding or in court busy defending themselves rather than attacking Baghel or the Congress.

Of the lot, only Aman Singh appears to be in the clear as far as court cases or allegations being probed are concerned. A careful bureaucrat, Aman had been the backbone of the Raman Singh government but was never directly embroiled in any controversy or scam. But the cases and probes always put a brake on life as Kamal Nath and his team are experiencing in Madhya Pradesh.

Kamal Nath (centre), the Madhya Pradesh chief minister. Credit: PTI

Despite his vast experience and seniority, Nath has refused to probe or even publicly criticise his predecessor Shivraj Singh for any of the several alleged scams – ranging from Dumper to Vyapam to the E-sourcing scam – during his tenure. If he had put his opponents on the mat like Baghel, Nath’s difficulties would have been less conspicuous or even less likely. Politics is about a show of strength and Baghel has taken a leaf out of the Modi-Shah book.

No holds barred 

Baghel also never misses an opportunity to throw darts at Raman Singh if the BJP ever speaks of the damaadji Robert Vadra and his many cases with the ED. He was also quick to get Raman Singh’s entire team including Singh himself to vacate their government accommodations even before the three-month leeway – that is generally granted – had lapsed.

Also Read: In Chhattisgarh, Probes Into Sins of Previous Regime Run Into Trouble

Compare this with the hundreds of houses that BJP and RSS workers still occupy illegally in Bhopal, whom Nath has not been able to even issue notices to. People may click their tongues at such tactics but with Baghel, its par for the course, just as Modi did in Delhi. His close advisors say that he was even unwilling to allow anyone from the BJP to become the leader of opposition in the state assembly – just as Modi had done in parliament. But eventually, he relented, as the BJP chose another OBC leader instead of Raman Singh, the LoP.

As the campaigning progresses in Chhattisgarh, Baghel has become more stringent in pouring vitriol against Modi in his public meetings. Holding back no punches, he focuses more on national issues rather than just local, but the ultimate decider will, of course, be the number of seats he is able to snatch from the BJP – which at the moment stands at 10-1.

In our democracy, unfortunately, power begets pelf and arrogance, but everyone meets his or her match one day. Baghel is a long way from there against Shah and Modi but he is surely throwing some punches.

Chhattisgarh Exit Polls Leave Everyone Guessing

The BJP and intelligence agencies predict a narrow victory for the ruling party, while the Congress projects a victory for itself.

Raipur: In Chhattisgarh, all government work has been at a standstill since the final round of polling on November 20. Naya Raipur or Atal Nagar, as it is now known, bears a forsaken look with an occasional road-side worker watering the flower beds on its shiny new streets.

But Mantralaya at the end of the Ekatma Path – usually buzzing with activity – now resembles an abandoned yard. The only thing that evokes any interest is the mention of the word parivartan. Is it coming? No? Have ‘they’ managed to hack the EVMs? Everyone has a theory. No real answers are possible till December 11.

Results we bring you will paint a picture of who might prevail in Chhattisgarh. Data is not hard to come by in Raipur. There are several expert teams set up by Amit Shah, Rahul Gandhi, state BJP and Congress units, local news channels as also intelligence agencies that have been mining for the past two months.

The Wire breaks it down one-by-one based on metadata gathered from all possible sources, coupled, of course, with perceptions.

The BJP

The party used state-of-the-art technology which allowed it to track every constituency for its mood, turnout, caste divisions, issues etc. It provided real-time information to its candidates based on the information it received from the field.

For instance, in Bindranavagarh it received information that other tribal sub-sects were angry over the chief minister attending and praising Mali samaj while campaigning. It immediately mobilised and worked on the rest of them and tried to salvage the situation.

Also Read: Assembly Elections: Exit Polls Predict Big Jolt to BJP

Its system of ground operatives is now sending back reports on how each polling booth may have behaved. It has also held a meeting of its candidates to try and get a sense of how confident they are. Based on that, the following is their best tally:

  1. The state unit estimates that 25 of its sitting MLAs will lose;
  2. It estimates that 20 of the sitting Congress MLAs will also similarly be decimated;
  3. Jogi Congress has damaged eight of its constituencies while it has damaged 17  seats of the Congress;
  4. Sources told The Wire that the BJP has 42 ‘confirmed’ winners and expects another 6 to come through;
  5. It estimates that the Congress has 32 ‘confirmed’ winners and may be able to raise its tally to 39;
  6. Jogi is expected to get three seats along with the BSP and one seat will be won by an independent.

That makes it BJP – 42, Congress – 32, Jogi – 3, independents – 1 and too close to call – 12

Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh.

Congress

Out of office for 15 years now, the Congress mounted its best campaign of the past two decades. It is heavily pivoting its chances on the anti-incumbency factor or parivartan – that according to the party is sweeping the state.

In a post-poll meeting called by Rahul Gandhi, the PCC president made sure that all his core supporters were present and presented a picture that must have warmed Gandhi’s heart. No true Congressman believes that the party is going to get less than 50 seats.

Baghel and company assured Gandhi that it will definitely form the government with at least 52 seats and may actually get past 60 if the parivartan wave is as forceful as they think.

  1. The PCC has assured Rahul of 52 seats;
  2. It figures the BJP will be restricted to 32 seats or below;
  3. Jogi Congress will get exactly one seat because “everyone who voted for Jogi has pressed Panja;”
  4. The remaining five seats may actually fall in its kitty according to its own calculations.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Credit: Reuters

Intelligence agencies

Official agencies work on a very limited premise. They have a large network of officers, policemen, assets and Mukhbirs – but none are professionals at gauging popular moods and that is the reason they often fall flat in their reports. There is also the tendency of pleasing the government in power and no one wants to be the bearer of bad news.

Our own sources, which we inadvertently share with the agency sometimes, tell us that the official figure given to the chief minister is 43 for the BJP, 40 for the Congress and 7 for the rest.

Amidst allegations of EVM tampering and constables and mobile tower workers getting caught with laptops inside strong room premises, it is quite clear that the result hangs by a very thin thread. Since the gap between the two main parties has always been very thin – between less than 0.75% to 2% in the past – making any firm prediction becomes fraught with difficulties.

Be that as it may, we can try and break down the results region wise:

  1. Bastar has 12 seats of which eight are currently held by the Congress, four by the BJP. It is likely to remain the same;
  2. North Chhattisgarh, covering the districts of Sarguja, Jashpur, Korea, Surajpur, and Balrampur have 14 constituencies, a majority of which may go the Congress’s way again. Ten for the Congress and four for the BJP;
  3. Of the remaining 64, 12 seats are in the sub-northern belt and mostly comprise of the SC seats. Of these, two may be won by the BSP. Of the remaining ten, the Congress and BJP may split them equally;
  4. Of the 52 seats in the plains – which make or break a government – most are urban or semi-urban seats. The BJP claims to have a superior run here. It hopes to get over 30 here, but it is where the battle is most severe. Durg district for instance has eight seats and four Congress claimants of the chief minister’s chair – Baghel, Ravindra Chaubey, Tamradhwaj Sahu and Arun Vora/Motilal. If there has been no backstabbing, all four are expected to win and so are their four acolytes in the districts. The BJP on the other hand is strong in Raipur and Bilaspur districts.

The final count may be something like this: BJP – 44, Congress – 42, BSP – 2, Jogi – 1, independents – 1.

The BJP should hope we are correct. The Congress has the right to disagree. Jogi has the right to be annoyed and Dr Vimal Chopda from Mahasamund will be happy to be thought of as the only independent likely to win by all pollsters.

The Curious Case of Chhattisgarh’s Voter Turnout

Nearly 47,000 votes have been added to the total tally since the last and final phase of polling on November 20.

Chhattisgarh’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has been releasing voting data that is much more complex than the NITI Aayog’s GDP figures. On the evening of the final phase of polling on November 20, the CEO, Subrato Sahu, released the overall polling percentage – 72. The next day, the figure went up to 74. By the third day, the polling percentage had gone up to 76.

These revisions would not have mattered, but a week later, a new set of data was released which increased the polling percentage in as many as 46 constituencies, sending the cumulative figure up by 0.26 percentage points. While the Congress has been questioning these changes in voter turnout, the BJP has so far shown no interest in the rising figure – though it should be equally concerned.

Sahu has not provided any answers. In fact, he hasn’t even updated the official site with the revised data. He blames the state PR department. The coordinator of the PR department Alok Dev, however, says he has released only that data to the press which was provided by Sahu. To this, Sahu says he can comment only after he has seen the PR department’s figures.

This is a peculiar development. It is no small matter that in at least eight constituencies, the revised voter turnout has gone up by more than the winner’s margin from last time. Of these, six were won by the BJP and the remaining two by Congress. A total of 46,377 votes had been added to the final tally released by the commission on November 22 – two days after the second round of polling. The total difference between the two parties in the 2013 elections was a mere five lakh votes or 0.75%.

Also watch: What Was at Stake During Chhattisgarh’s First Phase of Assembly Elections

The peculiarity does not end there. After the first round of voting on November 12, the SEC led by Sahu was stating the turnout percentage as 60.65 at 5 pm while chief election commissioner O.P. Rawat was claiming 70% turnout at the same hour. Where Rawat gott that figure is yet to be explained because he is supposed to receive data from his state counterpart. By the next day, the state had revised its final percentage to 76.65 for the 18 seats of the first phase, which meant an unusual jump of 16%. Sahu explained this jump by saying that several polling parties from the interiors had reached the district headquarters late.

If the varying poll percentages have to be believed, we have the stupendous case of Bharatpur Sonhat where the final polling figure stood at 72.88 on November 22 but had gone up to 84 by November 29.

What is the due process and why is the figure changing so often?

After votes have been cast, the booth officer or peethaseen adhikari has to simply close the EVM machine, seal it and note down the final figure which appears on it. The data has to be tallied with the physical figures available with him as each voter has been checked and her ID card examined and ticked on a verification sheet. By nightfall, the booth officer should be in a position to at least convey the exact number of votes from his booth to his superiors. Each constituency in Chhattisgarh will have between 200 and 300 polling booths so it should be fairly easy to calculate the final figure in each constituency by the next day, even as district collectors wait for the final deposition of ballot boxes in the strong room.

Also read: Ground Report: Where Chhattisgarh Stands on the Last Day of the Polls

Why should an increase in voting percentage be a matter of concern? Because, if a simple process of calculation can be mucked up so easily that there is a difference of nearly 4,000 votes in as many as 46 constituencies in more than ten days of calculations, then either the entire set up is extremely incompetent or there is more to it than meets the eye.

A gap of 21 days between the final phase of polling and declaration of results has also not made matters any easy. If there had been no such gap, would we have taken the figure as of November 22 as final one?

The Wire approached several candidates from both parties to find out if there is a legal recourse to this change in figures. “Our party has approached the Election Commission and registered our protest,” says Amitesh Shukla, who contested on a Congress ticket from Rajim. No one seems too eager to approach the high court for a plea for at least the revelation of final percentage, how it was arrived at and reasons for the delay. In absence of Sahu giving any straight answers, the revised overall polling percentage in Chhattisgarh stands at 76.28.

Neeraj Mishra is a senior journalist who has covered elections in central India for more than two decades.

A Diplomat in Tribal Country: Remembering Bastar Before the Fall

A former foreign secretary revisits his notes from his time Bastar in 1971, before the district became the heart of the ‘Red Corridor’.

In May and June of 1971, as part of my training for the Indian Foreign Service, I had a five-month attachment with the district administration in Jabalpur. For three weeks, I had the opportunity to travel around the district of Bastar – then in Madhya Pradesh – with an already-legendary district collector, B.D. Sharma, a guardian and champion of the tribal communities living there.

Going through my old notes, I came across my report to the collector of Jabalpur, covering part of the period I was in Bastar. It reflects the shallow experience and even immaturity of a new entrant in the civil services, but it also captures the flavour of Bastar before it became the heart of the ‘Red Corridor’.

It also reflects how we have let down our tribal communities, who asked for nothing but a chance to live their own peaceful and uncluttered lives.

From: Fourth Fortnightly Report by Shri Shyam Saran, IFS Probationer undergoing District Training at Jabalpur (M.P.) 31.05.1971 to 15.06.1971

… Tribal society and life follows what at first sight seems a very dreary and drab routine.  See them after the sun sets, and any impression that one might have had about a drab life disappears.  The gentle breeze carries the strains of a now forgotten primeval music – the gentle throb of the drums, the long wail of the ‘tori’, the tribal horn and the high pitched singing of voices freed by the magic salfi, collected from the tree that stands in every tribal courtyard and then fermented.

Also read: As Modi Blames ‘Urban Maoists’, CBI Covers Up Police Crimes Against Adivasis in Bastar

Youth has a special place in the tribal community. Each village has a sort of youth club which is known as the Ghotul, made famous by Elvin’s dubious researches.  Every evening, pubescent boys and girls gather in the ghotul.  It’s taboo for any elder to enter.  They sit around the camp fire, talking of love and romance, narrating stories from the inexhaustible tribal folklore, drinking the soothing and exhilarating salfi, signing songs whose words they make up spontaneously and dance in gay abandon till late at night.

In Abhujmar, the girls go back to their parent’s home but among the Muria, premarital sex is not frowned upon. Marital fidelity is highly valued but not strictly enforced so that to the officious prude from the city, Muria morals are not likely to inspire generous comment.

Simple pleasures of secluded lives

I had opportunity to witness one of the dances at a ghotul in a village called Devgoan.  What struck me most was the fact that the boys were more lavishly attired that the girls.  They wore magnificent headdresses of feathers and beads and a belt of tinkling bells.  The girls had red flowers in their hair, set in place with a comb (now plastic, since our civilisation has moved in) and necklaces of gaily coloured beads.

They danced in simple rhythm, arm in arm, singing in that peculiarly high pitched tone which to a stranger sounds quite eerie – everyone was in high spirits and one could not help envying their utter contentment with the simple pleasures of their secluded lives.

The tribal community will have a feast at the slightest excuse.  Any misdemeanour by a member is usually punished with a feast paid for by him, for the entire village.  Even in the ghotul, where tribal social hierarchy is duplicated, fines imposed upon a recalcitrant member are usually collected to pay towards the great ‘Navakhana’ or new year feast.  Intoxicating drinks like salfi and rice beer are a must. The whole of Bastar is a prohibitionist’s nightmare.

Surviving despite the state

Government programmes have had little impact upon these people.  One witnesses a profound suspicion among them of anything that is official. Loans or even outright grants are firmly refused on the ground that later the government will confiscate whatever they have.

Their suspicions have some basis. Forests are their life. The whole tribal economy is heavily dependant upon the forests. They also feel emotionally bound to the woods among which they live. In many areas, however, the forest department has debarred them from taking any product out of the forest.

What they are most disheartened about is the government penalising them for practising ‘penda’ cultivation. This, they say, strikes at their entire way of life and their survival. It is difficult to convince them. Men of great patience are required to help them adjust to the forces they do not understand, and hence cannot accept.

It is precisely this sort of sympathy and patience that seemed lacking from most of the lower staff we met around Narayanpur. What they failed to realise was that a totally secluded society is bound to resist any drastic change in its mode of living. That the transformation of such a primitive, tradition and superstition bound society into the mainstream of cultural progress, will take time. Forcing the pace will result in the sort of disintegration and degradation that one witnessed at Bailadilla.

For the individual tribal, the security of communal living is lost and he is not well equipped to face the strong ways and means of a more cunning society. This is not a plea for putting the clock back in these areas. One would only wish to see that the change for these innocent people is gradual and above all humane.

Also read: Ground Report: Where Chhattisgarh Stands on the Last Day of the Polls

Church and state

After Bastar, I had the opportunity to spend a few days with the S.D.O. at Yashpur in Raigarh district. The prominent tribal group is that of the Oraons. The Oraons in Yashpur are mostly Christians, having been subjected to a long period of missionary activities.

It is not strange that they have happily and willingly become converts. Backed up by huge resources, the Catholic missions have helped the once primitive tribals to overcome their near-destitute state. In time of scarcity, they were given free food and clothing.  In sickness, they were treated free in the up-to-date mission hospitals.  Their children were given free education in the mission schools, and above all treated as human beings entitled to the minimum respect due to a human being.

What a sharp contrast to the generally contemptuous and at best patronising attitude of the more ‘advanced’ non tribals and government officials.  True, conversions have been made with the bait of economic benefit, but it is also a fact that Oraons are today better fed, better clothed and better educated than their more unfortunate brethren elsewhere.

Words of warning

If the quantity and more importantly, the quality of government aid had been as good, the tribals need not have looked to the strong medicine of the white cassocked reverend father, who has now replaced the traditional ‘Shaman’ or witch doctor as friend, guide and helper.

Is it not strange that he helps the tribal to get the aid due to him from the government, by way of filling up the endless forms for him and chasing the officials concerned? How can the tribal look to the government for aid and advice, when it is so unapproachable, so distant and frustrating.

To me, it is quite obvious that unless the right sort of people are entrusted with the job of dealing with the tribals, little progress can be achieved. The usual bureaucratic machine is incapable of solving the problems of such simple communities. A greater personalised way of dealing with them is essential.

Shyam Saran is a former foreign secretary of India

Ground Report: Where Chhattisgarh Stands on the Last Day of the Polls

The Wire travelled to eight constituencies in four different districts of the state to assess the situation on the eve of polling.

Champa: Deep in the forests, near a stream and a large Vaishnav temple with a backdrop of white stone hillocks, it is a surreal setting for a political discussion. Harvesting has begun, the temperature in the day is an amiable 30 degrees.

But what should have been a calm day for farmers in the village nearby has been turned into a chaos of SUVs and motorcycles droning down dirt roads.

The temple sits on the cusp of two constituencies – Rampur and Sakti. As we drive into the temple to meet the youngish baba who holds the keys to about 15,000 votes in the area, a fleet of vehicles with BJP flags can be seen crowding the large entrance of the century-old temple. A Jharkhand minister (name withheld on request) has come with his supporters to convince Baba Santosh Dube, 45, to ditch the Congress and support BJP candidate Meghram Sahu in Sakti.

This is intriguing because Dube, besides being the trustee of the Vaishnav Ram temple, was till one month ago also the block Congress president and was removed summarily by the PCC before Charan Das Mahant’s candidature from Sakti was announced, perhaps on his request.

Also read: The Rise of the Sahus is Set to Tilt the Electoral Scales in Chhattisgarh

Workers from both parties greet each other with rustic warmth and familiarity, crack jokes and as the BJP set leaves, the Congress lot gets busy convincing Dube be more active in campaigning for Mahant. Dube has his list of grouses and the parley goes on for nearly two hours.

Which way did he finally turned will only be known tomorrow when 72 constituencies in the state go to the polling booths.

Few ground rules

Predicting anything in Chhattisgarh is fraught with difficulties. Traditionally, it has been a binary rivalry between the BJP and the Congress with the difference of vote being only about 1% either way. The difficulty this time is the Bahujan Samaj Party-Janata Congress Chhattisgarh combination of former Congress chief minister Ajit Jogi is likely to upset all calculations.

(L-R): JCC’s Ajit Jogi, BJP’s Raman Singh and Congress’s T.S. Singh Deo. Credit: PTI

In the absence of any strong wave, Chhattisgarhis have always voted conservatively and in line with their moderate nature. But every time a national wave rises, it does not crash on Chhattisgarh’s shore. Instead, people flow with the tide. So whether it’s the pro-Janata, anti-Indira wave of ’77, Bofors tainted ’89, Atal Bihari’s Bari of ’98, ’99 and anti-Diggi wave of 2003, it has always respected and sensed the larger  sentiments and voted accordingly. Otherwise it has always voted the party in power, largely remaining status quoists. For years it voted for Congress and now for the past three elections it has voted for BJP.

So few ground rules were visible in all the constituencies. In Sakti, former Union minister Charan Das Mahant appears comfortable as he is a big name and people will rather have him than Sahu. In neighbouring Rampur, former home minister Nankiram Kanwar of the BJP is expected to win. In Korba, sitting MLA of the Congress Jaisingh Agawal, whose wife is also the mayor, is expected to sail through. Status quoists to the tee. Even Vimal Chopra, the only independent MLA in the state, is expected to retain Mahasamund.

So as the state goes to vote these are the discernible trends:

  1. There is no wave in anyone’s favour. No undercurrents either.
  2. The BJP is hopeful of a staus quo, claiming an incumbency factor in its favour.
  3. It is depending on a disruptive rather than a constructive theory of election management and on the inability of the opposition to prick the balloon. Both Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi have talked of everything from Rafale to dynastic politics but not local issues including MSP and corruption.
  4. The presence of a potent third party alliance has not deterred either of the main contenders from playing their own small games including fixing or selling  seats.
  5. The usual election issues like ‘bijli, pani, development’ are a footnote.

Its either the lethargy of  the electorate, inability of the opposition to throw up a challenge, Raman Singh’s blessed luck or all three put together, that has resulted in an unbroken 15-year reign for the three-time chief minister. But despite the years in power, he has remained likeable – a down to earth person that the Chhattisgarhis love. Very few may claim to have seen him angry or perturbed over anything. He has weathered three elections, the elimination of entire opposition top brass by the Maoists and some feeble challenges from within. His rating  has remained good after three terms and that in itself is a small miracle for any incumbent chief minister.

The sad part though is that ennui has set in, primarily the result of a long reign. The lack of new ideas and an administration that has  become opaque and complacent. The same people have been running the show for past two decades and look visibly tired and bereft of ideas other than extolling the virtues of their leader. Government servants never seem to retire, party faces never change and even the cook, gardener and drivers of the chief minister’s house have become used to a pattern of life. It can’t be good for democracy. It does not need chaos but certainly more vibrancy.

Also read: How the New Village Power Structure in Chhattisgarh Influences Voters

The bottom line though is that if there was no Raman Singh in the equation, then it would have been a cake walk for the opposition. The BJP knows this and so do all the discredited much disliked ministers in the cabinet. Even Amit Shah realises this and for the first time in a while, Narendra Modi’s face has played second fiddle to Raman Singh on all official party posters.

In the normal course only one – Brijmohan Agarwal from Raipur south – can win while every other member of the cabinet would lose his deposit.  This then should  have been the ideal opportunity for the BJP to infuse new blood in its system but it has decided to play it safe and test the patience of the electorate.

Former chief minister Jogi’s strength is his ability to bounce out of every hardship in life,  an indomitable spirit and penchant to spring a surprise. He worked hard on his relationship with Mayawati when most expected him to work through his batchmate P.L. Puniya to reconcile with the Congress. He did that too but having failed to break through the Rahul coterie, he has thrown in the dice with Mayawati. Jogi’s penchant for surprises, of course, extends to his inability to retain the loyalty of those who stand by him. After a proper name calling and wrestling match between JCC treasurer Gajraj Pagariya and another loyalist Vijay Nijhawan in Jogi’s residence, the former resigned from the party two days before polling.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi addresses a rally at Kawardha in Kabirdham district, Chattisgarh, November 14, 2018. Credit: PTI

 Jogi’s family oriented outlook has meant that three members of his four-member family are contesting. He has put up his daughter in law Richa as the BSP candidate from Akaltara while his wife Renu is contesting Kota . He himself made a lot of noise about contesting against Raman Singh from Rajnandgaon but backed out at the last moment to protect his home base Marwahi. After the novelty of his shock alliance wore off, people are now deserting JCC along with Pagariya.

Baghel’s belligerence is both his strength and his weakness. He is the only Congressman who has been able to stand upto both Jogi and Raman Singh. A member of the Digvijay Singh cabinet of the ‘90s in MP, he has his own circle of influence. And that circle has been built very strongly on a pro-Kurmi and anti-upper caste politics. He is a product of a time when Shuklas ruled Chhattisgarh and was backed by Arjun Singh and Digvijay who wanted to cut down the Shukla influence. Alongwith Satyanarain Sharma, Charandas and Nandkumar Patel he was part of a band of leaders who had held influential positions in undivided MP. While Charan got his chance as PCC president last time after Patel was shot down, Baghel benefited from the fact that Charandas was seen as a mild leader who could not effectively counter Jogi within the party and the BJP outside.

Also read: Timeline: As Chhattisgarh Goes to Polls, a Look at the State’s Political History

Thus Baghel ascended the PCC throne and soon proved to Rahul that he could counter Jogi who from all accounts got the blame for the loss in 2013. But his inborn belligerence means he resorted to some dubious political tactics. His reliance on seedy CD makers which helped him prove Jogi’s complicity with BJP to Rahul also eventually led to his own downfall. A CD has now appeared which appears to implicate him in fixing seats but  the Congress does not have a choice at this late stage to either remove him or put forward TS Singhdeo, the leader of opposition who is seen as an alternative. Post election results things will definitely take a different course. Tamradhwaj Sahu and Mahant remain strong contenders for the chief minister’s job besides Singhdeo.

The count

That brings us to what is the actual count on the ground. If we were to take all sure winners from both parties – based on their record and present ability – there is not much headway. From the Congress all senior leaders including Baghel, Sharma, Singhdeo, Mahant etc are expected to win. So is true of the BJP which has given tickets to all its sitting ministers barring one with the expectation that they will win. A seat by seat analysis throws up an interesting figure. Both parties are expected to win 27 seats each. That makes it 54, so the contest will be for the remaining 36 seats.

It’s here where Jogi hopes to come into play. He is hoping to stop both the parties short of the simple majority mark of 46. So what are his chances? Realistically the alliance can win – Chandrapur, Jajaipur, Marwahi, Kota, Akaltara, Pamgarh, Sarangarh and Mungeli. It can hope to cause an upset in Kasdol, Lormi, Khairagarh and Bhanupratappur. It can also hope to finish second in Arang, Navagarh and  Ahirwara. The best case scenario for the alliance is that it may win 8 seats. It will be desperately hoping to stop the BJP and Congress at 40 and 42 respectively. Then Jogi can negotiate with either party.

Will that happen? It may not since BJP has been continuously harping that Jogi is a friend much to Mayawati’s consternation. Jogi had to ultimately call a press conference today and swear on religious texts that he will not support BJP. The BJP plan is to impress upon the electorate that it is going to come back to power with or without Jogi and that Congress is out of the race.

Also read: Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections: 70% Polling Recorded in First Phase Amid Sporadic Violence

The BJP apple cart might roll over in the plains where its ministers are in the fray. Amar Agarwal from Bilaspur, Ajay Chandrakar from Kurud, Rajesh Mudat from Raipur West, Prem Prakash Pandey from Bhilai and Speaker Gaurishankar Agarwal from Kasdol are all on weak wicket. If they lose then BJP may get restricted to 40-42.

The Congress thinks it has done very well in the first round of polling on November 12 for 18 seats. It expects to win 14 of them improving upon its last first phase tally of 12 out of 18. It’s also banking heavily on its stalwarts to come through as well as an ennui factor — more than the anti-incumbency. Ironically the anti-incumbency works more against  the Congress sitting MLAs than the BJP but the party has refused to learn its lessons which may be its undoing. Two months ago, it was hoping to win 54 seats and if BSP came on board then 58. Now it has seen its fortunes decline to 40s.

So at the moment it is an interesting race – the alliance still holds the keys according to our assessment but in Chhattisgarh the scenario changes fast on the day of the polling as it may not have the network of volunteers and party workers to man the polling stations. That’s where the BJP scores. As for the Congress, it will wait for the electorate to do it for them rather than motivating the electorate and if they fall short in a Gujarat-like jam, it will have only itself to blame.

Watch | What Was at Stake During Chhattisgarh’s First Phase of Assembly Elections

In the first phase of assembly elections which were held on November 12, 18 of the state’s 90 constituencies went to the polls.

New Delhi: In the first phase of assembly elections which were held on November 12, 18 of the state’s 90 constituencies went to the polls. Of these, 12 constituencies were from the Bastar region and six from Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh. Nearly one lakh security personnel were deployed in the Naxal-affected districts for the elections.

In 2018, an alternative to the BJP and Congress has emerged. Former chief minister Ajit Jogi floated his own party, the Janata Congress (Chhattisgarh), and allied with the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Communist Party of India (CPI).

Three-time chief minister Raman Singh’s fate will also be decided in the first phase. He is contesting the Rajnandgaon seat, which he has held multiple times, against the niece of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Karuna Shukla, who is contesting as a Congress candidate.

How the New Village Power Structure in Chhattisgarh Influences Voters

Come election season, a coterie of village-level functionaries become ‘contractors’ for political parties in Chattisgarh. For the right price, they will regulate the discourse and even corral residents to show up for public meetings and political speeches.

Kokadi (Raipur, Chhattisgarh): Less than a hundred kilometres from Chhattisgarh’s capital, a firman has been issued in Kokadi, a village of less than 2,000 people. All residents have to attend the Govardhan Puja a day after Diwali. Everything else now takes a back seat for the villagers. Attendance is compulsory and assigned functions have to be performed. No one goes to work – either as hired labour or in her own ripened paddy field. Any transgression by an individual or family is at the cost of being ostracised by the rest of the community.

What does this have to do with elections in Chhattisgarh?

Everything, a village-level political pundit explains. The post-diwali firman is a litmus test for a technique devised and refined over the past few election seasons. There are umpteen number of government schemes, such as free rice, free cycles, old age pensions, crop insurance, MGNREGA and Rs 1.5 lakh per person for housing. This is largely controlled by the village panchayat and its secretary. The beneficiaries identified at the ground level by this coterie are the ones who eventually get the money in their bank/Jan Dhan accounts.

No one in the village wants to rub them the wrong way, which has given rise to a lobby in each village that now effectively controls the discourse. It appears stronger than the caste panchayats, though in some cases it may be difficult to differentiate between them. Now, extend this to whom the village elders want the votes to be directed to and it become apparent how the power system, once developed by the Congress, has resurfaced in a different form. The Congress worked through an archaic Mughal-British feudal hierarchy of landlords and strongmen; however, presently the system is operated by those who are in a position to dispense government schemes at the bottom of the ladder.

Also read: Timeline: As Chhattisgarh Goes to Polls, a Look at the State’s Political History

Rukmani, 45, who works as a farm labourer and doubles as an anganwadi cook, says she has never disobeyed any firman – whether for religious functions or attending a village meeting. It keeps her peers happy and she has her name in almost all beneficiary lists. She does not want to risk losing her small privileges and certainly not over the “insignificant issue of whom to vote for”. Whoever comes to power in Raipur is likely to retain and even add to all the freebies, but her life will always be directly controlled by the lobby in her village.

The ingenuity and effectiveness of the system was put to test when BJP president Amit Shah visited the district headquarters in Gariyaband on November 10. His chopper landed at the police lines but the local candidate and sitting MLA Santosh Upadhyay failed to muster enough crowds for him. His eleventh hour reprieve came when he saw hordes of women walking in to listen to Shah. Party workers had contacted the right people in the villages around Gariyaband – including Kokadi – and brought in women, perhaps on daily wages of Rs 200 per head.

The point is, the power lobby in each village will deliver when required even for a public meeting, and it decides who gets the daily wage money amongst its own flock. This lobby in each panchayat/local body has effectively become a contractor for those looking to employ them. The beauty of the new power structure is that anyone from any party can make use of it, as long as the price is right. While in most cases the ruling BJP benefits from this set up, it isn’t immutable.

Also read: Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections: 70% Polling Recorded in First Phase Amid Sporadic Violence

Of the 20,000 villages and nearly 9,500 panchayat members, nearly 50% are Congress backed and independents. The lobbies are open to other offers and are not bound by party guidelines. That being said, for convenience sake panchayat and janpad members may align with the ruling party for the easy release of funds. Consequently, election results are always down to the wire in Chhattisgarh – with hardly five lakh votes separating the two main parties. Of the more than one crore votes cast in the last elections, the vote differential between the two main parties was a mere 0.75%.

Is all this a result of the power structure at the bottom of the pyramid?

While that may not be the case, what may explain it is how the system has evolved and become entrenched over the past ten years – where the list of freebies has grown from rice to horses. The state has an annual budget layout of Rs 80,000 crore and revenues in the region of Rs 40,000 crore, mostly from mining, power and excise. The rest is made up of centrally-sponsored schemes and central share in GST. All that money is being ploughed back into populist welfare schemes, which has given rise to this new mafia-like structure at the bottom.

Timeline: As Chhattisgarh Goes to Polls, a Look at the State’s Political History

Despite the Naxal insurgency, Chhattisgarh’s elections have always been tightly contested between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Voting for the first phase of the Chhattisgarh elections is being held on Monday, and the second phase will take place on November 20. As the first phase covers areas where the Maoists have a stronghold, large numbers of security personnel have been deployed to ensure that voters are able to cast their votes peacefully.

In the first phase, 18 of the state’s 90 constituencies go to the polls – 12 from the Bastar region and six from Rajnandgaon district. Fate in the remaining 72 seats will be sealed on November 20. Despite the Naxal insurgency, Chhattisgarh’s elections have always been tightly contested, with the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party being the two major players.

The Wire looks back at the state’s political history and the different factors at play.

Also read: 

Crushed Between Naxals and Police, Chhattisgarh’s Abujmarh Region Is Seeking Refuge

In Dantewada’s Naxal Area, ‘Political Participation’ Looks Completely Different

What the CBI’s Internal Report on State Violence Said About the Rot in Chhattisgarh

Congress Leaders in Chhattisgarh Have Been Painting a Rosy Picture for Rahul Gandhi

In Chhattisgarh’s Politics, the Sting (Operation) Always Curls Back

The Ever-Changing Gears of Ajit Jogi

If either the Congress or the BJP gets a clear majority, the Jogi factor will be over in Chhattisgarh politics.

Ajit Pramod Kumar Jogi has had the privilege of rubbing shoulders with several powerful and wise men, but the bureaucrat-turned-politician is not known to have learnt much from them. Having spent countless hours – often as audience or just a hanger-on – Ajit Jogi is expected to reflect at least a bit of the somewhat legendary patience and dexterity of Pranab Mukherjee, Arjun Singh, P.V. Narasimha Rao, P. Shiv Shankar and Ahmad Patel.

He, in fact, reflects quite the opposite.

Collector crosses over to Congress

A sharp man who comes from a modest background, Jogi has always been going at breakneck speed to beat his contemporaries. The hunger to prove himself the brightest had numerous hours of glory when a young Satnami man first cleared the Indian Police Service (IPS) and then the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). He showed his prowess as a tough administrator as collector of Indore, catching Rajiv Gandhi’s attention, no less. Ultimately, he left the IAS to enter the Rajya Sabha in 1986. This was a time when Rajiv was facing hostile opposition despite having a mammoth majority in the parliament. Jogi, like Surendra Singh Ahluwalia, Suresh Pachauri, Ratnakar Pandey, Baba Mishra and the rest, became a member of Rajiv’s (in)famous ‘shouting brigade’ with a Bull Terrier-like rage against V.P. Singh & Co.

Also read: Ajit Jogi’s Uncertain Future in Congress Marks a Shift Away from Pro-Adivasi Politics in Chhattisgarh

Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in May 1991 saw many loyalists losing out in the Congress’s political labyrinth that saw a stoic Sonia Gandhi, a maverick Narasimha Rao consolidating his hold over the party organisation and the Prime Minister’s Office, a trio of Arjun Singh, Makhan Lal Fotedar and Vincent George plotting against Rao and a large number of confused chief ministers of Congress-ruled states and CWC members, among others.

The period between 1993 and 1996 saw Jogi at his best. His day would begin with paying visits to Vincent George, Arjun Singh and a galaxy of other leaders, and end at the court of pipe-smoking Pranab Mukherjee, whose contempt towards Arjun and partiality towards Narasimha Rao were always visible. The former bureaucrat desisted from carrying tales or throwing his lot with any particular faction of the Congress. So, when his friends Aslam Sher Khan, Dileep Singh Bhuria, Rangarajan Kumaramangalam and others sat on a dharna at the Surajkund AICC, Jogi saved himself from the humiliation of getting his testicles pressed by Haryana cops. It so happened that when ‘Gandhian’ Sher Khan, Bhuria and the rest tried to march towards the podium where Rao was sitting, some Sewa Dal volunteers intercepted them. Congress folklore has it that those were Haryana policemen masquerading as Congress Sewa Dal volunteers. Without a lathi or fraternal affection, they pressed agitators’ testicles as per their drill to tame the marchers.

Finally, when Arjun Singh resigned and floated a breakaway Tiwari Congress with N.D. Tiwari, Jogi was missing from the ranks. By 1995, Jogi had struck friendship with Bhuvnesh Chaturvedi, a low-key minister in Rao’s PMO. Unlike Ahluwalia and Aslam Sher Khan, Jogi could not become a junior minister in the Rao government, but he became a frequent visitor to 7, Race Course road, hearing out an otherwise reticent Narasimha Rao.

The 1996 defeat of the Congress saw Jogi changing gears swiftly. He was in the company of Priyaranjan Dasmunshi, Prithviraj Chavan and others giving a marching order to Rao as leader of the Congress Party in the parliament. Jogi was a regular fixture at the place of newly appointed AICC chief Sitaram Kesri, who disliked both Arjun and Digvijaya Singh. For Kesri, there were only three types of Congressmen – forward, backward and ‘Har’-vard (those foreign educated politicians who pushed Congress towards har or defeat). This was also a golden period of sorts for Jogi as he succeeded in creating a deep wedge between Kesri and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh. However, before Kesri could orchestrate Digvijaya’s ouster and his replacement with Subhash Yadav, he was himself evicted as AICC chief. Jogi wasted no time in doing a 180 degree turn towards V. George, M.L. Fotedar and the rest.

Eventful but uninspiring tenure

Destiny smiled at him in November 2000, when NDA Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee decided to create three new states of Jharkhand, Uttrakhand and Chhattisgarh. A rootless wonder who was yet to win either Lok Sabha or state assembly polls, Jogi did not have support of even half a dozen Congress MLAs in Chhattisgarh, but he positioned himself as chief minister of the tribal state even though his claim of being a tribal was disputed an a case was ongoing in the court. Sonia acted naïve; her antipathy towards Vidya Charan Shukla was grounded on Shukla betraying Indira Gandhi after her 1977 defeat and raising Bofors’ bogey during the Rao era when he was parliamentary affairs minister. Little did she realise that years later, Jogi would play a Shukla on her. Jogi was chosen as leader of Congress legislature despite not having much support. It was alleged that many religious heads belonging to Christian faith had lobbied for him, a charge stoutly denied by Sonia as well as the Congress party then.

Jogi’s anointment as chief minister of Chhattisgarh in Raipur on November 1, 2000 was eventful. The talk of the town was that Prabha Rau and Ghulam Nabi Azad, who were central AICC observers, wanted to watch the film Mission Kashmir to while away some time in Raipur. Instead, they were treated to an impromptu fistfight between supporters of Shukla and Digvijaya Singh. The chief minister of undivided Madhya Pradesh was on ground receiving kicks and punches barely hours before the vast tracks of fertile land and mines were to slip out of his kingdom. At the time of swearing in, capital Raipur bore eerie silence, as if mourning over local Shukla’s failure to get his due.

Ajit Jogi with BSP supremo Mayawati during the announcement of a poll alliance in Lucknow. Credit: PTI

Jogi’s tenure as chief minister was far from impressive. While he was seen by many as an autocrat, he could not even get a new state capital that he had announced amid a lot of fanfare. He ran the state administration with the help of handpicked bureaucrats. He was given a free hand, as if Sonia had shut her eyes and ears. Jogi’s son rose in Sanjay Gandhi manner, calling shots and emerging as an extra-constitutional authority.

By the time his three-year tenure ended and the November 2003 state assembly polls were called, a supremely confident Jogi was plotting against his own party nominees so that he would get a bare working majority and deprive the ‘high command’ (Sonia) any chance to replace him with another chief minister. The final outcome had a different story, but Jogi was unrelenting. He reportedly informed the state governor that a faction of newly elected MLAs were prepared to switch sides. The governor, a former army lieutenant general, schooled in propriety and ethics, informally alerted 10, Janpath and Jogi was given a stern word to accept the mandate. The behind-the-scene swift action prevented a major showdown between the otherwise genial prime minister Vajpayee and Sonia Gandhi.

Tragedy struck when Jogi’s speeding car rammed into a tree, but months and years of hospitalisation did not affect Jogi’s determination to stay relevant. Sonia’s own sense of disillusionment over some unsavoury incidents and Rahul’s indifference peeled the mask of loyalty and Jogi moved to Raipur, threatening to teach the Congress a lesson. However, in so doing, his family has maintained ties with the Congress and with the BSP, and an informal line with the Raman Singh-led BJP regime in Chhattisgarh.

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If wishes were horses, Ajit Jogi would have fancied himself as a jockey. With the first round of polling in Chhattisgarh barely 12 days away, the former chief minister wants to a V. Kumaraswamy in Raipur. However, unlike the Karnataka Janata Dal (S) chief minister, Jogi is open to the idea of getting support from either the Congress or the BJP.

Can he still be kingmaker?

Chances of Jogi being lucky in December 2019 are slim. However, like November 1, 2000, Jogi may not have support of many MLAs on December 11, 2018, but if poll verdict throws up a hung house, he would try his luck, rather hard.

His chances against the Congress are based on a scenario that Chhattisgarh verdict will throw a hung house. With the Congress, he would do tough bargain including a claim on the chief minister’s post if his alliance with the BSP and the CPI gets 10 assembly seats. His idea of a tie-up with the BSP is to get into a ‘king-maker’ position and queer the pitch for the Congress. Mayawati too wants a weak Congress for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The concept of Mahagathbandan is a mirage as non-NDA parties like the BSP and the Trinamool Congress do not want a Rahul-led Congress to win Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

He might back the BJP if it falls short of a few seats, he would back the BJP. If either the Congress or the BJP gets a clear majority, the Jogi factor would end in state politics. Going by the poll campaign build-up and the history of the newly carved tribal state of Chhattisgarh, chances of a hung house and a third front getting a substantial number of assembly seats in the house of 90 are little.

Jogi’s sure-shot hold is over Satnami Harijans, who matter in four or five assembly seats. Together with the BSP and the CPI, he is fancying 10 seats, which is unlikely. Chhattisgarh, or for that matter its parent state Madhya Pradesh, has no history of coalition politics. In 2013, the Congress’s vote percentage was barely 7% less than the BJP’s despite a tottering UPA regime and the emergence of Narendra Modi as harbinger of hope.

Also read: In Blow to Congress, BSP Picks Ajit Jogi’s CJC as Ally for Chhattisgarh Polls

A latest incidence gives a glimpse of the life and times of Ajit Jogi. A few months ago, Jogi had announced in bravado that he would take on chief minister Raman Singh from Rajnandgaon. Closer to filing nomination, Jogi changed track, declaring that he would not be contesting assembly polls. However, before the statement could sink it, a busload of loyalists arrived from Marwahi. They pleaded and begged with Jogi, under the watchful eyes of TV news cameras, to file his papers from Marwahi and let them campaign for him. A somewhat helpless Jogi was seen accepting the ‘will of the people’ as per the democratic norms. The audacity to take on chief minister Raman vanished in thin air.

The Rajnandgaon flipflop illustrates that Jogi has not emerged as astute politician. He is in a hurry and somehow wants to grab power even if it means going with the BJP.

Rasheed Kidwai is a noted political commentator and talking head on Indian tv news channels. He is a visiting fellow at the ORF and the views expressed here are his own.

Chhattisgarh Elections: Close to One Lakh Security Personnel Deployed as First Phase Voting Begins

Voting is being held on Monday in 18 seats spread over eight Naxal-affected districts in the state.

Raipur: Nearly one lakh security personnel have been deployed in the Naxal-affected districts going to polls in the first phase in Chhattisgarh on Monday, amid the threat from Maoists who have called for a boycott of the elections.

On the eve of the polls, a sub-inspector of the Border Security Force (BSF) lost his life when Naxals detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) in Kanker district while a Maoist was gunned down in an encounter in Bijapur district.

Voting is being held on Monday in 18 seats spread over eight Naxal-affected districts in the state.

Naxal outfits have given calls for boycott of the election and executed over half-a-dozen attacks in the last 15 days, three of them major ones which left 13 people dead including a cameraman of national broadcaster Doordarshan who was covering the election campaign.

According to police, escorting polling parties to their destinations and bringing them back after the polls pose challenges to them in the Naxal hotbed.

“Around one lakh security personnel, including central paramilitary force, have been deployed to ensure peaceful polling in the first phase,” Chhattisgarh’s Special Director General (anti-Naxal operations) D.M. Awasthi told PTI.

All counter measures have been taken to thwart attempts by Maoists to disrupt the poll process, he said.

A total of 650 companies (roughly around 65,000 security personnel), including of paramilitary forces like the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and other state forces, have been sent by the Centre for poll duty, he said.

These units are apart from the paramilitary personnel and 200 companies of state forces already engaged in the anti- Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh, Awasthi said.

He said around 650 polling booth parties were airlifted by helicopters on Saturday to remote areas while other teams were being sent by road on Sunday.

Choppers of the Indian Air Force and the BSF were pressed into service for the purpose, he said.

“The challenge is to escort all polling parties safely to their destination in Naxal-affected areas and later to conduct polls and bring back them safely,” Awasthi said.

He said there are inputs of Naxals planning to plant IEDs to target security men. “Therefore, a hawk eye was being kept on roads in such areas,” the official said.

Awasthi said forces that have arrived from other states have been advised to avoid using any road unless it has been sanitised by “road opening parties” (ROPs) or subjected to a de-mining exercise to detect and clear IEDs.

Security men have also been asked to avoid patrolling on foot as Naxals are known to place iron spikes to inflict injuries, he said.

They have also been asked to maintain extra caution and sanitise polling booths and other premises in sensitive areas, he said.

In the last 10 days, over 300 IEDs were recovered from the Bastar region and Rajnandgaon district by security forces, he added.

Another state police official said as many as 198 polling booths have been relocated in the eight districts going to polls, in view of the Maoist threat and convenience of locals.

The highest number of 76 polling booths were shifted in Bijapur, followed by Sukma-40, Kanker-25, Dantewada-21, Narayanpur-18, Rajnandgaon-12, Kondagaon-four and Bastar- two, the official said on condition of anonymity.

Drones have been deployed in sensitive areas to track the movements of Naxals as they might target polling personnel on way to the booths, he said.

Police have been asked to maintain a strict vigil on the borders with Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

Due to the Naxal threat, polling in 10 constituencies – Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta – started at 7 am and will end at 3 pm.

In the other eight seats Khairgarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur and Chitrakot the polling time will be 8 am to 5 pm.

On November 8, four civilians and a CISF jawan were killed when Naxals detonated a bus with an IED in Dantewada district.

Before that on October 30, three police personnel and a cameraman of national broadcaster Doordarshan were killed in a Maoist attack in Aranpur area of Dantewada.

On October 27, four CRPF personnel were killed and two others injured after Maoists blew up their bullet proof bunker vehicle with an IED in Bijapur district.