Chhattisgarh polls: BJP steps up campaign; Shah to address 2 rallies today

Raipur, Oct 18 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah will on Thursday address two rallies in Chhattisgarh's Bastar division, where polling will be held in the first phase on November 7, a BJP leader said here on Wednesday, giving a boost to the saffron party's campaigning for the crucial elections in the Congress-ruled state.

This will be Shah's second visit to the state after the announcement of election schedule for the 90-member assembly. Earlier, the former BJP president, a key poll strategist of the party, had addressed an election rally in Rajnandgaon on October 16.

Voting in the state will be held in two phases on November 7 (20 seats) and 17 (70 seats).

Shah will arrive at the Maa Danteshwari Airport in Jagdalpur from New Delhi shortly after noon, said the BJP leader.

The home minister will attend a public meeting and nomination rally at Lalbagh Maidan in Jagdalpur, he said.

Shah will later leave for Kondagaon where he will attend another election meeting and nomination rally at Police Ground, he said.

Both Jagdalpur and Kondagaon fall under the Naxal-affected Bastar division of the state.

In the first phase, polling will be held in Konta, Bijapur, Dantewada, Chitrakot, Jagdalpur, Bastar, Narayanpur, Kondagaon, Keshkal, Kanker, Bhanupratappur, Antagarh, Mohla-Manpur, Khujji, Dongargaon, Rajnandgaon, Dongargarh, Khairagarh, Kawardha and Pandariya assembly segments.

The remaining 70 seats will be covered in the second phase.

The BJP has announced its candidates for 86 seats, including all 20 going to polls in the first phase.

The ruling Congress had registered a landslide victory in the 2018 polls, winning 68 of the 90 seats.

The BJP, which has ruled the state for 15 years (2003-2018), was reduced to just 15 seats, while the JCC (J) and the BSP bagged 5 and 2 seats, respectively.

The current strength of the Congress in the assembly stood at 71. PTI TKP RSY