RAIPUR: The process of filing nomination forms for the second phase of Chhattisgarh assembly elections began on Saturday with the issuance of a notification, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer said.
On the first day, five candidates from Premnagar, Raigarh, Marwahi, Bilaigarh and Rajim constituencies filed their nomination papers.
Chhattisgarh will vote in two phases on November 7 (20 seats) and November 17 (70 seats). Counting of votes for all 90 constituencies will be taken up on December 3.
The process of filing nominations for 70 constituencies in 22 districts for the second phase began with the issuance of a notification on Saturday, as per the election office.
While October 30 is the last date for submitting nominations for the second phase and after scrutiny on October 31, the last date for withdrawal is November 2.
These constituencies fall under the Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur and Surguja divisions.
Of these 70 seats, 17 are reserved for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) while 9 are for the Scheduled Caste (SC) category.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has been contesting from his traditional Patan seat where BJP has fielded his distant nephew and the party MP Vijay Baghel while Deputy CM TS Singh Deo is in the fray from Ambikapur.
From BJP, state unit chief and MP Arun Sao are in the poll ring from Lormi, leader of opposition Narayan Chandel from Janjgir-Champa) and Union minister Renuka Singh from Bharatpur-Sonhat (ST) among others.
A total of 294 candidates have filed their nomination papers for the first phase of voting till the October 20 deadline.
The Congress had registered a landslide victory in the 2018 polls winning 68 seats and comfortably forming the government. The BJP was reduced to 15 seats, while the JCC (J) and the BSP bagged 5 and 2 seats, respectively. The current strength of the Congress is 71.