Raipur, Mar 16 (PTI) The 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh will see polling in three phases on April 19, April 26 and May 7 as per the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India on Saturday.
The Naxal-hit Bastar (ST) constituency will be the lone one to go to polls on April 19, while elections will be held in Kanker (ST), Rajnandgaon and Mahasamund on April 26.
The remaining seven Lok Sabha seats, namely Surguja (ST), Raigarh (ST), Janjgir-Champa (SC), Raipur, Durg, Korba and Bilaspur, will witness polling on May 7.
The gazette notification for polls on April 19 will be issued on March 20, which will start the process of filing of nominations. The last date for filing nominations will be March 27 and scrutiny of the nominations will be completed on March 28. The contestants can withdraw their name till March 30.
“The notification for the April 26 polling will be issued on March 28. Last date for filing nominations will be April 4 and scrutiny will be completed by the next day. The contestants can withdraw their candidature till April 8,” an official said.
Likewise, for the May 7 polling, the notification will be issued on April 12, while the last date for filing nominations will be April 19, he said, adding that scrutiny will get completed on April 20 and candidates can withdraw their names by April 22.
The counting of votes nationwide will be held on June 4 as per the EC schedule.
Exuding confidence of winning all 11 seats, Chhattsgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, in a post in Hindi on X, said “The bugle of Lok Sabha elections has been sounded. The whole India is excited to participate enthusiastically in this great festival of democracy.” “In the last ten years, under the efficient and strong leadership of PM @narendramodi ji, the country has made unprecedented progress by realising the goal of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’,” he added.
All major poll guarantees given by PM Modi have been fulfilled since the BJP came to power in the state in December due to which the party is fully confident of making the lotus bloom in all 11 Lok Sabha seats, Sai said.
“We will bring Modi ji back to power at the Centre and make India a vishwa guru,” he asserted.
Meanwhile, state Congress’ communication wing head Sushil Anand Shukla said there is a wave of change in the country.
“Party workers in more than 23000 booths, district committees, block committees, Vidhan Sabha committees and ward committees of the state Congress are fully prepared for the polls. We will raise the failures of 10 years of the Modi government among people. We will also apprise people about the promises of the Congress,” Shukla said.
He also said polling should have been done in one or two phases instead of three looking at the geography and size of the state.
Of the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh, four are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and one for Scheduled Castes. PTI TKP BNM
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