Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections slated to begin on Friday, security has been tightened in the heavily forested Gadchiroli to maintain peace as both Lok Sabha constituencies are set to cast ballots during the first phase tomorrow on April 19.
Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli-Chimur — A Naxal Hotbed
Gadchiroli-Chimur, a hotbed of Naxalism, is an interstate junction for Naxals as it is located in a key area on the ‘Red Corridor’ and shares its borders with Naxalism-affected regions in Telangana and Chhattisgarh. The constituency covers parts of Gondiya district, Chandrapur district, and the entire Gadchiroli district. Formed in 2008, it is one of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra’s Vidharbha region.
The current MP from the constituency is Ashok Mahadeorao Nete of the Bharatiya Janata Party from 2014. Nete was preceded by Congress’s Kowase Marutrao Sainu from 2009-14.
For the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the saffron party has fielded Ashok Mahadeorao Nete again from the Gadchiroli-Chimur Lok Sabha constituency, while the grand old party has fielded Namdev Dasaram Kirsan.
Gadchiroli SP, Neelotpal, said, “We have made elaborate preparations in the last 6 months. 15,000 security personnel will be deployed for voting tomorrow…There are a total of 206 booths. 6 Mi-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force are present. Heli-dropping of EVMs and polling parties has been conducted in sensitive and highly sensitive areas. Apart from this, we have a fleet of 130 drones that will keep an eye on them from the sky. We have appealed to the villagers to come out and vote without any fear and help us in making the elections peaceful and successful…”