A total of 223 candidates were in the fray for the first phase of Assembly polls comprising 20 seats in Chhattisgarh after the deadline for withdrawal of nomination papers ended on Monday, an official said.
The candidates include State Congress chief Deepak Baij and former Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party vice president Raman Singh.
Polls to these 20 seats in seven Naxalite-affected districts in Bastar division and four other districts will take place on November 7. Votes will be counted on December 3.
"A total of 294 candidates had filed their nominations for the first phase. Of these, papers of 253 were found valid after scrutiny. Of them, 30 candidates withdrew their nomination on Monday, leaving 223 in the fray," a statement from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer said.
The first phase of voting will cover Antagarh (ST), Bhanupratappur (ST), Kanker (ST), Kondagaon (ST), Narayanpur (ST), Bastar (ST), Jagdalpur, Keshkal (ST), Chitrakot (ST), Dantewada (ST), Bijapur (ST), Konta (ST), Khairagarh, Dongargarh (SC), Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Mohla-Manpur (ST), Kawardha and Pandariya seats.
The highest number of contestants are in Rajnandgaon constituency (29), while the lowest number of candidates are seven each in Chitrakot and Dantewada seats.
State Congress chief and MP Deepak Baij (Chitrakot), Ministers Kawasi Lakhma (Konta), Mohan Markam (Kondagaon) and Mohammad Akbar (Kawardha), and Chhavindra Karma, the son of late Congress leader Mahendra Karma, are among prominent candidates from the ruling party in the first phase.
Former Chief Minister Raman Singh (Rajnandgaon) and four former State Ministers Kedar Kashyap (Narayanpur), Lata Usendi (Kondagaon), Vikram Usendi (Antagarh) and Mahesh Gagda (Bijapur), and former IAS officer Neelkanth Tekam (Keshkal) are among key candidates from BJP for this phase.
The Congress has fielded its senior OBC leader and chairman of Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation Girish Dewangan against Raman Singh from Rajnandgaon.
Aam Aadmi Party State unit chief Komal Hupendi will contest from Bhanupratappur seat.
Congress MLA Anup Nag, who was denied ticket by the party, is contesting as an Independent from Antagarh seat.
Of the 20 seats going to polls in the first phase, 12 are reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) and one for Scheduled Caste (SC) category.
The total number of electors in these 20 seats is 40,78,681, comprising 19,93,937 male, 20,84,675 female and 69 third gender. A total of 5,304 polling stations have been set up for the first phase, as per officials.
The Congress has 71 seats in the 90-member House at present.
