Chhattisgarh Assembly election: Nomination process begins for first phase, Election Commission issues notification

Raipur: No nomination papers were filed on Tuesday for the first phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly polls after the process for filing them began with the issuance of a notification in this regard, a statement from the Chief Electoral Officer said.The state will have polls in two phases on 12 November and 20 November and votes will be counted on 11 December.The first phase of polling covers 18 seats spread across eight naxal-affected districts — Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Sukma, Kondagaon, Kanker, Narayanpur and Rajnandgaon.As per the notification issued on Tuesday, the final date for filing nominations is 23 October and scrutiny of nominations would be completed the next day, adding that nominations can be withdrawn till 26 October.In the first phase, 31,79,520 voters, comprising 16,21,839 men, 15,57,592 women and 89 third-gender voters would be able to exercise their franchise.As many as 4,336 polling booths have been set up for the first phase, the statement said.