RAIPUR
Contest in 18 constituencies in the Maoist affected areas in Chhattisgarh is mostly set to be bi-polar as picture getting clear after the last date of withdrawal of nomination papers for the first phase of elections.
192 candidates are left in the fray under these 18 constituencies. These constituencies will go to polls on November 12. AIR correspondent reports that in the first phase of assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, the most keenly watched contest will be in Rajnandgaon, where chief minister Raman Singh is pitted against former prime minister Atal Bihari vajpayee’s niece Karuna Shukla.
Prominent faces trying their electoral luck in first phase are School Education minister Kedar Kashyap from Narayanpur, Forest minister Mahesh Gagda from Bijapur, tribal leader and Congress legislator party deputy leader Kawasi Lakhma and CPI leader Manish Kunjam from Konta and Aam Aadmi Party young chief ministerial candidate Komal Hupendi from Bhanupratappur.
More than 31 lakh voters, including 16 lakh females, are eligible to exercise their franchise in first phase. As many as 89 third genders are also among the voters.