Chhattisgarh polls: Women commandos to guard 35 polling booths in Maoist-affected regions of Bastar

Chhattisgarh is all set for the two-phase assembly elections next month on November 7th and 17th. During the first phase of elections, around 35 polling stations in Bastar division, which is renowned for the presence of Maoists will be guarded completely by the women commanders. As per the sources, the responsibility of 35 stations has been given to the women commandos of the Bastar Fighters, a special police unit in Chhattisgarh.

The state elections will be special for the Bastar district as the residents of Maoist-affected villages will get the chance to vote for the first time in 40 years. Earlier, it was not possible to conduct polling in the area due to safety reasons. 

In Bastar, there are 40 highly Maoist-affected villages where polling booths will be established for voting. The Election Commission has started the election process in this area with full vigilance.

In the last five years, more than 60 security force camps have been established in these highly sensitive areas. After the establishment of the camps, the process of area dominance was carried out continuously, and now, according to the police, these areas are completely safe and the voting process can be conducted there. 

Earlier this week, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Bastar Division, Sundarraj P spoke about the preparation by the security forces for the upcoming polls in the Bastar area stating that the forces are trying their best to conduct the election process in a systematic manner.

He informed that special forces, DRG, STF, Cobra, other central military forces, CRPF, STF, ITBP, and all the security forces are available for security purposes. The local police force will also be allotted additional force duty during polls. "A detailed security plan has been prepared regarding poll security, and the district administration and local police administration are implementing it," IGP of Bastar Division told ANI.

The elections in Chhattisgarh will be contested on 90 assembly seats, as the first phase of polling for 20 seats will be held on November 7. The remaining 70 seats in the state will go to polls on November 17. The counting of votes will be done on December 3 along with the other four states. BJP and Congress are the major contenders in the state and have released their final list of all 90 candidates in the state. In 2018, Congress had stormed to power in Chhattisgarh by winning 68 of 90 seats in the state assembly. The party had a vote share of 43.9 per cent. BJP managed to win 15 seats and had a vote share of 33.6 per cent.