by Peerzada Arshad Hamid
NEW DELHI, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Seventy percent voter turnout was registered Monday in the first phase of local elections in India's central state of Chattisgarh, officials said.
The first phase of two-phase polling was held in 18 constituencies of the state amid tight and heightened security measures at 7:00 a.m. local time.
"The voting for first phase of elections in Chattisgarh has ended and 70 percent turnout was registered," an election official told media in evening. "Polling by and large passed off peacefully."
Several incidents of violence were reported during the first phase in the Naxal affected state.
According to the Election Commission, over 2 million of the 3.1 million electorate voted across eight insurgency-hit districts.
"Polling in 10 constituencies in the Naxal hot-bed of Bastar ended at 3:00 p.m. local time and in the remaining eight constituencies at 5:00 in evening," the official said.
According to police, the Naxals triggered three improvised explosive device (IED) blasts in Katekalyan in Dantewada district, minutes ahead of polling.
Meanwhile in a gunfight between Naxals and government forces in two separate places, five paramilitary troopers were wounded.
A local news agency reported five Naxals were gunned down during the stand-off. However, no independent confirmation could be made about the killings.
Naxals had called for poll boycott in the state and carried out several attacks in a bid to dissuade voters from participating in voting.
Reports said over 125,000 police and paramilitary personnel were deployed across the 18 constituencies, to ensure hassle-free polling.
India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has ruled Chhattisgarh for the past 15 years and opposition Congress party is trying hard to unseat it in the ongoing elections.
The incumbent Chief Minister Raman Singh was among the prominent faces pitted against Congress party candidate Karuna Shukla in his home turf Rajnandgaon in the first phase. Shukla is a niece of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. She switched to Congress from the BJP in 2014.
The second and final phase of polling in Chhattisgarh's 90-member lawmaking body will be held on Nov. 20.
The counting of votes will take place on Dec. 11.
Political analysts said the results in local elections would serve as a precursor for the next year's general elections in India.
India's election commission has banned the exit poll between Nov. 12 to Dec. 7 in the poll-bound states.
