LS polls: 30 pc polling till noon in Chhattisgarh

Press Trust of India  |  Raipur 

Around 30 per cent voter turnout was recorded till noon on Tuesday from seven seats of during the third phase of elections.

Initially, a low turnout was witnessed at the polling booths, but as the voting progressed, people came out in large numbers to exercise their franchise, despite the scorching heat, an said.

"Around 30 per cent voting has been recorded till noon," he added.

Voting was underway in Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Korba, Janjgir-Champa (SC), Surguja (ST) and Raigarh (ST) amid tight security.

Bhupesh Baghel, BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ramvichar Netam, former Assembly Gaurishankar Agrawal and other leaders cast their votes in the state.

As many as 123 candidates are in the fray in the seven seats where the main fight is between the ruling and the BJP, which lost power in last year's state Assembly polls.

Altogether 1,27,13,816 voters, including 64,16,252 men, 62,96,992 women and 572 members of the third gender, are eligible to exercise their franchise for which a total 15,408 polling booths have been set up, the said.

Raipur and Bilaspur seats have the maximum number of candidates (25), followed by Durg-21, Jangir-Champa - 15, Raigarh -14, Korba-13 and Surguja-10.

Around 60,000 security personnel, including paramilitary and state forces, have been deployed in the state for smooth conduct of voting.

In the 2004, 2009 and 2014 polls held after the formation of Chhattisgarh, the BJP won 10 out of the 11 seats every time.

This time, the Congress, buoyed by its victory in the Assembly elections last year, is hoping to improve its tally in the state.

Voting for the 11 seats in the state was scheduled in three phases.

The Naxal-hit Bastar (ST) constituency went to polls in the first phase on April 11, while voting in three other seats - Rajanandgaon, Kanker (ST) and Mahasamund - was held in the second phase on April 18.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Tue, April 23 2019. 13:15 IST