Chhattisgarh polls: Maoists hack BJP leader Ratan Dubey to death days before voting

A Bharatiya Janata Party leader was killed on Saturday in Narayanpur district in poll-bound Chhattisgarh allegedly by Naxalites, a police official said.

Ratan Dubey, the BJP's Narayanpur district unit vice president and the area's Assembly convenor, was hacked to death with a sharp edged weapon in the market at Kaushalnagar village while he was campaigning for Assembly polls scheduled for November 7 and 17, he said.

A police team has rushed to the spot and efforts to nab those involved are underway, the official added.

Condoling the incident, BJP leader Om Mathur in a message on X said, "I am deeply saddened by the brutal murder of Chhattisgarh BJP's Narayanpur Assembly convenor and Narayanpur district vice president Ratan Dubey ji by Naxalites during the campaign. The entire party condemns this cowardly incident.

The incident comes amid accusations by the opposition BJP of "targeted killings" of its workers in the run up to the polls.

On October 20, BJP worker Birju Taram was shot dead by suspected Maoists in Sarkheda village in Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district.

Narayanpur is among the 20 Assembly seats on which polls will be held on November 7. The second phase of polls to the 90-member House will take place on November 17, while votes will be counted on December 3.