Raipur, Nov. 12 : Campaigning for first phase of assembly elections in Chhattisgarh will come to an end this eveining.

The polling for 39 of the 90 constituencies will be held on Friday (November 14).

The political future of State Chief Minister Raman Singh, State Assembly Speaker Prem Prakash Pandey, Leader of Opposition Mahendra and former Congress minister Ravindra Choubey will be decided in these polls. Singh is among 383 candidates who will be in the fray in the first phase.

Bhillai, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, Nov. 11 : Kicking off the Congress party’s campaign in poll-bound Chhattisgarh on Monday, party general secretary Rahul Gandhi urged the people to vote the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of power.

Chhattisgarh is among the six states headed for staggered assembly polls in November-December this year.

The six state elections will test the political temperature in India before a general election in early 2009. Congress has been losing ground to the BJP in state elections over the past year.

Two ruling B

Jagdalpur (Raipur), Nov. 11 : Four Teak trees named Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata, and Shatrughana after characters of Hindu scripture Ramayana, have been a major attraction for the people in Machkot jungles of Chhattisgarh’s Jagdalpur area.

The naming also shows the love the people have for the trees.

One of these generations’ old trees Bharat died. The incident sent a wave of disappointment among all here. The incident drew investigating officials to ascertain the actual cause of death and make a detailed study about the tree.

There will be a different time-table for Voters to cast their votes, in naxal affected areas of Chhatisgarh.

Voting in such areas will start at 7 am and the ballot boxes will be sealed at 3 pm. This change will help the security and polling persons to deposit the ballot boxes in their respective strong rooms before evening.

The Election Commission (EC) has announced these changes citing the security reasons.  

"Looking at the security aspects, voting time has been changed in some constituencies. The same voting time will also be applicable in those booths where election materials will be flown in by helicopters," said Gaurav Dwivedi, Joint Chief Electoral Officer, Chhattisgarh.

The full body of Central Election Commission (CEC) will visit Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh today to review the arrangements for assembly polls there.