This will be the first time after independence when people of more than 120 villages of Naxal-affected Bastar region of Chhattisgarh will get a chance to vote in these assembly elections in their own settlements. Officials said that new polling stations will be built in these villages of difficult areas which were earlier strongholds of Naxalites. Officials are considering this achievement as the victory of ‘ballot on bullet’. Earlier, voters in most of these villages had to travel a distance of 8 to 10 kilometers to vote. People had to cross mountains and streams to cast their vote. This affected the voting percentage.
Officials say that the establishment of polling stations in the areas of Bastar region which were once considered Naxalite strongholds is a sign of improvement in the security scenario and strengthening of the democratic system. It is known that voting will be held in two phases in the state. There are 12 assembly constituencies in Bastar division consisting of seven districts. Voting will be held in the first phase on November 7 in Bastar division.
Bastar Range Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sundarraj P said that more than 126 new polling stations will be set up in Bastar region for voting on November 7. Most of these will be new polling stations located in remote Naxal-affected areas. These new polling stations will assure the new generation of ‘ballot after ballot’ victory in Bastar region.
Of the 126 new booths, 15 will be set up in Kanker assembly constituency, 12 in Antagarh, five in Bhanupratappur (Kanker district), 20 in Konta (Sukma district), 14 in Chitrakote, four in Jagdalpur, one in Bastar (Bastar district). Not only this, 13 polling booths will be set up in Kondagaon, 19 in Keshkal (Kondagaon district), nine in Narayanpur, eight in Dantewada and six in Bijapur.
The official said the establishment of more than 65 camps of security forces (both state police and Central Armed Police Forces) in the Naxal-hit area during the last five years has brought about a significant change in the ground situation. It has helped in setting up polling booths even in remote villages. IG said that these new polling stations are a sign of better security and strengthening democratic system in Bastar.
Police officials in the area said that earlier polling stations were not set up in these areas due to difficult geographical conditions and Maoist threats. Pallo Markam, a tribal woman from Chandameta village, said that earlier she had to travel a distance of eight kilometers to reach Chhindgur village to vote, but now she is happy that she will be able to vote in her village itself.
Chandameta is one of the four villages in Jagdalpur constituency where a polling booth will be set up for the first time. Chandameta, once considered a stronghold of militancy, is located in the foothills of the Tulsi Dongri hills on the Chhattisgarh-Orissa border, about 65 km from Jagdalpur, the headquarters of Bastar district. Markam said that due to lack of road, one had to go to Chhindgur through unpaved roads. Now we are very happy to have a polling station in our village.
Markam said that we will vote for the one who will work for our development. Shyam Kawasi, another resident of the village, said that the voters of his village were earlier not interested in voting because one had to travel eight kilometers away and there was no road to reach there. He said that this time the entire village is excited to participate in the celebration of democracy.
Bastar District Collector Vijay Dayaram K said that the villagers of Chandameta had requested the district administration to set up a polling booth in their village. Last year, after the security forces established a camp in the village, the district administration rapidly took forward the development works there. A road connecting the village, schools and a health center were constructed. Electrification work of the village is in progress.
Bastar District Collector Vijay Dayaram said that most of the families in Chandameta village, which has a population of 432 people, had at least one member associated with the Naxalites before the police camp was established. The Collector said that for the first time after independence, the tricolor was hoisted in the village on August 15 last year. Now villagers will cast their votes in their villages for the first time after independence.
Bastar District Collector Vijay Dayaram said that there are 290 voters in the village, of which 148 are men and 142 are women. We are ready to conduct peaceful and successful elections. Voting will be held in the first phase in 12 assembly constituencies falling in Naxal-affected Bastar division Bastar and eight assembly constituencies of Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki, Rajnandgaon, Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai and Kabirdham districts of the state. The remaining 70 constituencies will go to polls in the second phase on November 17.