Bastar to vote in shadow of terror

The BJP is winning the seat convincingly since 1998 but this time the Congress hopes to offer a close fight as the party nominee's father was a respected politician as well as a former MP from Bastar. He was brutally killed by Maoists last year in a deadly ambush on a Congress convoy.

Election officials say that holding peaceful polls in Bastar is the biggest challenge as Maoists have blockaded with landmine all roads leading to 153 polling booths in the forested areas and security forces are struggling to demine the area to allow forces to guard the voters during polling hours.

Authorities have no option but to airlift the polling teams to these booths by choppers and also bring them back to safer areas before sunset on the day of polling as rebels command these tracts since late 1980s.

About 40,000 troopers drawn from para-military and Chhattisgarh Police, have been deployed to ensure violence-free polling.