Polling gets underway amidst Maoists' boycott call in 18 Assembly constituencies of Chhattisgarh, on Monday.
This is the first phase of Assembly elections in the State where 190 candidates are in the fray and as per electoral rolls, there are 31,80,014 voters.
Voting began at 7 am in 10 out 18 constituencies, while in the remaining areas it is from 8 am to 5 pm.
Here are the live updates:
According to the Election Commission of India, 70 per cent turnout has been reported in the phase one of Chhattisgarh polls.
65% of the electorate has cast their votes till 3 p.m. on Monday, a poll official said.
Nearly 38 per cent electorate cast their votes till 2 pm in 18 Assembly constituencies, a poll official said. He said polling was being held after 15 years in Sukma district’s Palam Adgu village where 44 voters exercised their franchise so far. As many as 31 electronic voting machines (EVMs) and 51 voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines were replaced due to technical snags, the official said.
The Chief Electoral Officer has said 22.5% votes have been polled till 12 noon.
In Murtanda village in Sukma, in extreme south of Chattisgarh, mainly tribal voters are out in good numbers to vote. 
After two hours, 14 per cent polling was registered.
Voting under a makeshift booth in Banda
Voting is in progress in a makeshift polling booth in Banda under Konta police station limits, in Sukma District after an IED was detected near the polling centre.
Malfunctioning EVMs replaced
Eight per cent voting has been registered in the first hour of polling in Chattisgarh, Election Commission officials have said.
The Election Commission officials said as many as 50 electronic voting machines were not working properly and this caused delay in voting in Kanker and Kondagaon districts.
On receiving complaints of 31 EVMs and 51 VVPAT machines malfunctioning, those are replaced, said Chief Electoral Officer.
IED blast
An improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated by Naxals in Dantewada district.
A police official said Naxals, who had called for a boycott of the polls, detonated the IED early morning, but no casualty was reported.
“The explosion took place around 5.30 am on Tumakpal-Nayanar road when a team of security men was escorting polling personnel to their booth,” a senior police official said.
“No harm was caused to the security and polling personnel in the explosion. The polling party safely reached the Nayanar polling booth in Katekalyan area,” he added.
Police said one kilogram of explosives were seized in Bijapur district.
PM urges voters to come out in large numbers
As Chhattisgarh goes to polls Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to come out in large numbers to exercise their franchise.
In a tweet, he requested voters of the state to participate in large numbers in “the festival of democracy“.
Technical glitch mars polling in several areas.
Voting machines is reportedly not working properly in some booths in Rajnandgaon, Chief Minister Raman Singh's constituency. Glitches were reported in Kondagaon district too.
Polling has begun in the remaining eight constituencies too.
Voting has started on a dull note amidst boycott call by Maoists.
In Kanker, some voters are staying away from polling booths. Incidentally, it not because of Maoists, but due to lack of development in the area. There is no work for us, nor any roads, said a villager to The Hindu .
A Border Security Force (BSF) personnel was injured when Maoists detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) in Kanker district on Sunday.
Maoist boycott call looms over Dantewada
Situation in interiors areas of few districts– like Dantewada, Bijapur or Sukma– is described by the locals as “explosive” as Maoists have asked the villagers not only to boycott polls but also to vacate the area.
As one enters Pedpa village, not even a kilometer from the new police station close to Municipality office in Kirandul town, where one of country’s largest iron ore deposits in Bailadila are located, the first Maoist poster is visible, pasted on a giant mango tree.
It looks very fresh and exhorts the villagers not only to boycott the polls but “also the Government backed by the corporates”.
Special Director-General (Anti-Naxal Operations) D.M. Awasthi said around one lakh security personnel, including those of Central paramilitary forces, have been deployed to ensure peaceful polling. Drones are being used in sensitive areas to track the movement of Maoists as they might target polling personnel on way to the booths, he said.
A total of 650 companies (roughly around 65,000 security personnel), including paramilitary and other State forces are on duty, Mr. Awasthi said. These units are in addition to paramilitary personnel and 200 companies of State forces already engaged in the anti-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh. “The challenge is to escort all polling parties safely to their destination and later to conduct polls and bring them back safely,” he said.
In the run-up to the first phase of polling, half-a-dozen incidents of violence have killed at least 13 persons, including security and media persons. All the incidents took place in the Bastar division of south Chhattisgarh, partly dominated by the left-wing insurgents. Many civilians and even a local leader of the Communist Party of India (CPI), Kalmu Dhurwa, were among those killed. Locals told The Hindu that the situation in the interior area had “deteriorated” following a boycott call by the Maoists.
Voting began in 10 out of 18 Assembly constituencies under a tight security blanket comprising over 1.25 lakh police and paramilitary personnel.
“Polling in nine constituencies of Bastar division and one in Rajnandgaon district has begun from 7 am and will conclude at 3 pm, while in the rest of the constituencies the polling time is from 8 am to 5 pm,” a poll official said.
As many as 4,336 polling booths have been set up for the first phase and 19,079 polling personnel have been deployed.
Polling time in 10 constituencies — Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta — is from 7 am to 3 pm.
In the remaining eight constituencies — Khairgarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur and Chitrakot — it is from 8 am till 5 pm.
Of the 18 seats going to polling in the first phase, 12 are reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) while one is for Scheduled Caste (SC) category.
