All you need to know about Chhattisgarh polls-Phase 1

Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh will be held in two phases across all 90 seats. The first phase on November 12 will cover 18 constituencies spread over in 8 Left Wing Extremism affected districts (Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Sukma, Kondagaon, Kanker, Narayanpur and Rajnandgaon).

The remaining 72 seats in north Chhattisgarh will go to polls in the second phase on November 20.

As the state goes to the polls in its first stage on Monday, here’s an easy guide to the 1st phase of polling.

According to the Election Commission, there are 1.84 crore electorates in this central state who are eligible to participate in the voting process. This includes 61 per cent youths. Over 3,100 voters are above 100 years of age.

While 190 candidates are in the fray for the first phase of polls, 1,101 nominees will battle it out in the second phase of the state elections.

The highest number of 30 candidates will lock horns in the Rajnandgaon constituency, while the lowest number of five nominees will fight it out in Bastar and Kondagaon seats each.

An analysis of the 190 candidates, which are in the running on Monday, shows that 15 of them have criminal cases recorded against them, while eight of them have serious criminal offences against them.

The analysis also shows that 13 of the 18 candidates that the Congress has fielded are crorepatis -- similar to those of the BJP candidates.

The voter turnout in 2013 stood at 75.93 per cent. Of the total 90 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party had won 49 seats, Congress 39, Bahujan Samaj Party 1 and independent 1.

All eyes will be on these seats as the battle between the candidates in the last assembly polls was neck-and-neck with the victory margin being less than 4 per cent.