Chhattisgarh By-elections: 63.92% Voter Turnout Recorded Till 3 PM

In Chhattisgarh's second phase of general elections, three Naxalite-affected Lok Sabha constituencies recorded a 63.92% voter turnout by 3 pm. Kanker recorded 67.5%, Mahasamund 63.3%, and Rajnandgaon 61.34%. Prominent politicians, including Raman Singh and Vijay Sharma, cast their votes. A Special Armed Force jawan allegedly committed suicide while on poll duty in Mahasamund. One polling booth was decorated like a wedding mandap, and brides and grooms voted in traditional attire. Voting for eight Kanker segments ended at 3 pm, while for six Rajnandgaon and nine Bindranawagarh (Mahasamund) segments, it will conclude at 6 pm. 41 candidates, including Bhupesh Baghel and Tamradhwaj Sahu, are contesting in the BJP-Congress battle.

A voter turnout of 63.92 per cent was recorded till 3 pm on Friday in three Lok Sabha constituencies, all having Naxalite presence, in Chhattisgarh in the second phase of general elections on Friday, an official said.

''Amid tight security, polling began in Kanker, Rajnandgaon and Mahasamund Lok Sabha constituencies at 7 am and was underway smoothly. Till 3 pm, 63.92 per cent polling has been registered,'' the official said.

Voting concluded at those places where polling time was till 3 pm, he said.

The tribal-dominated Kanker seat recorded 67.50 per cent turnout, Mahasamund 63.30 percent and Rajnandgaon 61.34 percent, he said.

Among the early voters, state assembly speaker and former chief minister Raman Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, former MP Abhishek Singh cast their votes in Kawardha town (Rajnandgaon seat), BJP candidate Santosh Pandey and his wife at Sahaspur-Lohara in Rajnandgaon, BJP candidate Rupkumari Chaudhary in Harratar village in Mahasamund, BJP candidate Bhojraj Nag and his wife at Antagarh in Kanker.

According to the police, a jawan of the Madhya Pradesh Special Armed Force deployed on poll duty allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle at a government school where he was stationed in Gariaband district under the Mahasamund seat.

A polling booth at Sivni village in Balod district (Kanker seat) was decorated like a wedding 'mandap', with a display of rituals of traditional weddings.

Brides and grooms dressed in their wedding finery cast their votes at several polling booths in the three seats.

Of the eight assembly segments in the Kanker Lok Sabha constituency, polling began in Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Keshkal and Kanker assembly segments at 7 am and ended at 3 pm, while in Sihawa, Sanjari-Balod, Daundilohara and Gunderdehi it will conclude at 6 pm.

In the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha constituency, polling in the Manpur-Mohla assembly segment ended at 3 pm, and in the seven other assembly segments, it will end at 6 pm.

The polling time in the Mahasamund constituency is 7 am to 6 pm, except in nine sensitive polling booths under the Bindranawagarh assembly segment, where it concluded at 3 pm.

Altogether 41 candidates, including former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and former state home minister Tamradhwaj Sahu, are in the fray in a direct fight between the ruling BJP and opposition Congress.

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