Low voter turnout in Bastar Lok Sabha seat till 11 am: Chhattisgarh records 28.12% voting

More than 28 per cent of the electorate cast their votes in the first four hours of polling in the Naxal-hit Bastar Lok Sabha constituency of Chhattisgarh, which witnessed a grenade explosion on Friday.A CRPF jawan deployed on poll security duty was injured when a shell of an under-barrel grenade launcher UBGL accidentally exploded in Bijapur district.In a post on X, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said, Received sad news that a soldier engaged in the security of a polling station suffered injuries in UBGL shell blast in Bijapur amid the ongoing voting in Bastar Lok Sabha.

More than 28 per cent of the electorate cast their votes in the first four hours of polling in the Naxal-hit Bastar Lok Sabha constituency of Chhattisgarh, which witnessed a grenade explosion on Friday.

A CRPF jawan deployed on poll security duty was injured when a shell of an under-barrel grenade launcher (UBGL) accidentally exploded in Bijapur district.

In a post on 'X', Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said, ''Received sad news that a soldier engaged in the security of a polling station suffered injuries in UBGL shell blast in Bijapur amid the ongoing voting in Bastar Lok Sabha. Instructions have been given to ensure proper treatment for the injured. His condition stated to be out of danger. I wish for his speedy recovery''.

Long queues of voters were witnessed at several polling stations in Dantewada, Bijapur and Bastar districts.

''Amid tight security, polling in the Bastar seat started at 7 am and is underway smoothly. At least 28.12 per cent polling was registered till 11 am,'' an election official said.

Among the initial voters, Congress candidate Kawasi Lakhma cast his vote at the Nagaras polling booth (Sukma), BJP's Mahesh Kashyap in Kalcha (Bastar), state BJP chief Kiran Deo in Shanti Nagar (Jagdalpur- Bastar) and state Forest Minister Kedar Kashyap in Farsaguda (Bastar).

The Balud polling booth in Dantewada district sported the theme of environment conservation, with officials giving away saplings to voters to create awareness about conservation.

At least 60,000 state and paramilitary personnel have been deployed across the constituency to ensure peaceful polling.

Polling in booths of Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Chitrakot, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta assembly constituencies in the Bastar Lok Sabha seat is being held from 7 am to 3 pm.

In the Bastar assembly constituency, polling is being held from 7 am to 5 pm, while in Jagdalpur, 175 booths are seeing voting from 7 am to 5 pm, and in 72 booths, it is being held from 7 am to 3 pm, she said.

Altogether 14,72,207 voters, including 7,71,679 women, 7,00,476 men and 52 transgenders, are eligible to exercise their franchise in the seat with 11 candidates in the fray, the official said.

As many as 1,961 polling booths have been set up in the constituency, of which 61 were categorised as vulnerable and 196 as critical.

The straight fight is between the Congress's firebrand leader Kawasi Lakhma and BJP's Mahesh Kashyap, a fresh face, in Bastar, which the saffron party lost in 2019.

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