Chhattisgarh defies Red threat, 70% cast vote

NEW DELHI: The voters across Naxal-infested parts of Chhattisgarh on Monday defied the poll boycott called by CPI (Maoist) as well as a heightened threat of IED/armed attacks to record 67% turnout till 6 pm. According to the Election Commission (EC), this is only a tentative figure as polling parties were still reaching the base camps and the final turnout may well hit 70%, surpassing the 66% turnout recorded in 2008 assembly polls.

The 12 constituencies across south Chhattisgarh, comprising the Bastar region, made the difference to the turnout. "As compared to 55% recorded in 2008, polling in these constituencies had touched 63% till 3 pm. We are hopeful that the final figures may be anything between 65% and 70%...Given that around 20% of the electorate, as per convention, never participates in polling, the turnout this time is beyond our expectations," said a senior home ministry official.

In what is being seen as a major victory for the counter-Naxal forces, which had thrown a thick security blanket over the 18 assembly constituencies across eight districts in Bastar in south Chhattisgarh and Rajnandgaon and Kanker in north Chhattisgarh, minimal violence was recorded. A CRPF jawan was killed in exchange of fire with Naxalites in Dantewada, though only towards the end of the poll, leaving the polling there unaffected. A head constable was injured due to exchange of fire at polling station no 177 in Dantewada.

In Kanker, polling could not be held in two polling stations as IED blasts and firing from Naxalites prevented polling parties from accessing them. There were reports of sporadic incidents and recovery of IEDs and pipe bombs in other areas.

"Polling was marked by visible enthusiasm on part of the people to participate in the democratic process," said deputy election commissioner R Balakrishnan. The Union home ministry, which had stationed around 60,000 paramilitary personnel as reinforcements to manage the Naxal threat, agreed that "the record turnout showed locals were no longer willing to be under the hold of

The EC, as part of its elaborate preparations for the first phase of Chhattisgarh poll, had deployed six IAF choppers to carry 193 polling personnel for 54 highly-sensitive polling stations, apart from around 100 security personnel. An air ambulance was stationed at Raipur to boost the morale of poll officials and security forces. Apart from 18 general observers, assisted by police observers and awareness observers and over 1,000 micro-observers, around 2,700 video and static cameras recorded each and every aspect of the poll.