Polling begins for last phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly elections

Raipur: Amid tight security, polling began at 8 a.m for the second and concluding phase on Tuesday for 72 seats spread across 19 districts to elect a new Chhattisgarh Assembly, officials said.

A total of 1,079 candidates are in the fray, and both Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are contesting all the 72 seats. The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is in the fray for 25 seats and its ally and former Chief Minister Jogi's Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) is vying in 46 seats.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded candidates in 66 constituencies.

An electorate of over 1.5 crore, including over 77 lakh male and over 76 lakh female voters, are eligible to exercise their franchise. There are nearly 1,000 voters from the third gender.

The BJP is in power in the state since 2003.