Polling began at 7 am in 10 of the 20 assembly constituencies where elections are being held in the first phase. It will end at 3 pm

In the first phase covering 20 of the total 90 assembly seats, 223 candidates, including 25 women, are in the fray and as per electoral rolls, 40,78,681 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise

Women voters outnumber men in seats covered under the first phase of polling. As many as 20,84,675 female voters are on the rolls while the number of male voters is 19,93,937. There are 69 third gender voters as well

As many as 5,304 election booths have been set up for the first phase and 25,249 polling personnel have been deployed

"Polling in nine constituencies of the Naxalite-hit Bastar division and another Maoist-affected constituency Mohla-Manpur (in adjoining Durg division) began at 7 am and will conclude at 3 pm. In the other 10 constituencies, polling will start at 8 am and end at 5 pm," the official said

Polling in these 10 constituencies -- Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta -- is being held from 7 am to 3 pm due to the Naxal threat

In the remaining ten constituencies -- Khairgarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur, Chitrakot, Pandariya and Kawardha -- people can vote from 8 am to 5 pm

Around 60,000 security personnel, 40,000 of them belonging to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and 20,000 from the state police, have been deployed for smooth conduct of polls in the Bastar division which has 12 assembly segments, police said