The Congress on Thursday declared the names of 12 candidates for the first phase of Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh which will be held in 18 constituencies on November 12. The party has repeated seven out of eight of its sitting legislators.

All India Congress Committee General Secretary Mukul Wasnik said the party was fielding Devati Karma in Dantewada, Lakheshwar Baghel in Bastar, Shishu Pal Sori in Kanker, Rekhchand Jain in Jagdalpur constituency. These constituencies are Maoist-dominated areas.

The party said Anoop Naag will represent Antagarh, Manoj Singh Mandavi will contest for the Bhanupratappur seat, Santra Netam for Keshkal, Mohan Lal Markam for Kondagaon, Chandran Kashyap for Narayanpur, Deepak Kumar for Chitrakot, Vikram Shah Mandavi for Bijapur and Kawasi Lakhma for Konta.

The Election Commission will conduct the second phase of polling for the remaining 72 seats on November 20.

On October 6, the Election Commission of India announced the Assembly election dates for Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The counting for the five states will be held simultaneously on December 11.