As the sun begins to set over the village of Chandi a group of dancers is entertaining the crowd gathered to hear from the local candidate of the Congress party.
This is grass roots politics, a long way from the centre of Indian political power. But here too, it is all about the numbers.
"We think we will win 11 seats," says Dhanendra Sahu, the Congress president in Chhattisgarh. "The people believe in us."
There is another kind of politics at work in this state, though.
Away from the headlines, a low intensity war is being waged across a vast swathe of territory in central and eastern India.
It has become known as the Red Corridor.
Elections may be in full swing, but there is also an army of Maoist rebels preaching revolution in this part of the country. They do not believe in parliamentary democracy.
Anyone caught by the Maoists on election day with ink on their finger - as proof that they have voted - will, the rebels warn, have that finger cut off.
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