Raipur, Nov 7 (IANS) As voting in 20 Assembly seats was underway in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, former Chief Minister Raman Singh said the BJP will win 14 seats.

An overall 10 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 10 a.m., said officials. Voting in some polling booths began at 7 a.m. while at others it started around 8 am.

A large number of voters came out to exercise their right to franchise, especially in the Maoist-hit Bastar district.

Senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister Raman Singh, who is contesting from Rajnandgaon, is among the 223 candidates fighting for the 20 Assembly seats.    

Raman Singh was confident that the BJP will win 14 out of the 20 Assembly seats where polling was underway. “BJP is winning a minimum of 14 seats in the first phase. BJP will form the government with a complete majority,” he added.

Earlier, Chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said his government has done a lot to control the situation in Chhattisgarh and therefore, people will come out to vote in large numbers without any fear.

“Naxalism has retreated to a great extent with the work we have done in five years. There is a possibility of high voting percentage in the Naxal affected areas. As a result, polling booths have been set up inside villages. People will vote in their village itself,” Baghel said. 

There are a total of 223 candidates in the fray and 5,304 voting booths have been set up by the Election Commission for this phase.

Out of the 20 seats, 13 are reserved for SC/STs. Overall, in the state, 29 seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs) and 10 seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs). The polling will end at 3 p.m.

The second phase election for the remaining 70 Assembly seats (Chhattisgarh has a total 90 Assembly seats) will be held on November 17 along with neighboring state Madhya Pradesh and the result will be announced on December 3.