Raipur, Nov 28 (IANS) The Chhattisgarh state election commission has advanced the poll dates for urban bodies, an official said Saturday. The change has reportedly been made in view of the Christmas holidays.
The polls will now be held Dec 21 and Dec 23 for the three-tier urban bodies. The votes will be counted Dec 27.

State Election Commissioner Shivraj Singh said the commission had scrapped its announcement made on Nov 19 that polling would be held in three phases - Dec 21, 24 and 27, while counting was earlier scheduled on Dec 30.

As per the fresh announcement, polling for 14 Nagar Palika and 87 Nagar Panchayats will be held Dec 21, while voting for the remaining 12 Nagar Palika and 32 Nagar Panchayat seats and all the nine Nagar Nigams will be held Dec 23.

While the Commission did not give a reason for the change, sources said the request of the Christian community that the polls interfered with their religious festival was the prime reasons for the alteration.

The polling time in the Maoist-insurgency hit Bastar region will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., while for the other areas it will be held 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The election will be held through ballot papers, not by electronic voting machine.