Polling begins for Bastar amid Maoist violence
May 8th, 2011 - 10:00 am ICT by IANS
Raipur, May 8 (IANS) Voting began Sunday for Bastar Lok Sabha constituency by-poll at 8 a.m. amid sporadic firing by Maoists in the interiors areas to scare away the voters, police said.
Reports said that voters were seen queuing up at polling booths in urban areas right from start of the scheduled time. But in forested interiors, the booths wore a deserted look, largely because of the rebels who have vowed to disrupt the polling.
Bastar is one of the worst Maoist-hit constituencies of the country. The rebels have a strong presence in about 80 percent of the forested region.
Polling is underway at 1,716 polling stations amid tight security arrangements. About 11.94 lakh voters can exercise their franchise to decide the fate of eight candidates. The main contest, however, is between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. The state’s ruling BJP has been winning the tribal reserved seat since last four times.
The by-poll was necessitated because of the death of BJP’s tribal leader and MP Baliram Kashyap in March. The BJP has fielded late Kashyap’s son - Dinesh Kashyap - as the party nominee, while the Congress has bet on Kawasi Lakhma, the legislator of Konta seat, which is one of the eight assembly segments that make up the Bastar parliamentary constituency.
- Bastar votes in by-poll amid Maoist firing (Lead) - May 08, 2011
- Bastar records 40 percent polling amid Maoist blasts, firing (Second Lead) - May 08, 2011
- In Maoist bastion of Bastar, 200 polling booths relocated - Apr 28, 2011
- Campaigning ends for Chhattisgarh by-poll - May 06, 2011
- BJP to step up campaigning in Bastar - Apr 25, 2011
- Battle for Bastar: tribal legislator threatens to dislodge BJP - May 07, 2011
- Bastar is ours, say both BJP and Congress - May 10, 2011
- BJP government has no control in Bastar: Ajit Jogi - Apr 30, 2011
- Chhattisgarh seeks extra troopers for Bastar by-poll - Apr 25, 2011
- Committed to restoring peace in Bastar: Raman Singh - May 05, 2011
- By-poll ahead, but no one's campaigning in Bastar interiors - May 03, 2011
- Congress struggles to pick candidate for Bastar - Apr 07, 2011
- Eight candidates for Bastar Lok Sabha seat - Apr 22, 2011
- Congress says it will win Bastar by-poll - Apr 27, 2011
- BJP leads in Bastar Lok Sabha seat - May 13, 2011
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