Chhattisgarh polls: 9.93 pc voters cast their votes till 9 am in first phase of polling

Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India]: A voter turnout of 9.93 per cent has been recorded in Chhattisgarh after two hours of voting till 9 am, according to the Election Commission of India.

The government data shows the highest voter turnout of 16.48 per cent in North Bastar Kanker, followed by 12.51 per cent in Kabirdham, 10.18 per cent in Dantewada, 11 per cent in Narayanpur, 8.34 per cent in Rajnandgaon, 6 per cent in Khairagarh, 4.89 in Bastar, 4.21 per cent in Sukma and 3.39 per cent in Kondagaon so far.

The voting process began for 10 seats at 7 am and for the remaining 10 seats, it began at 8 am amid tight security.

The polling started at 7 am for ten seats, which include Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta.
Moreover, voting for the remaining assembly constituencies, which include Pandaria, Kawardha, Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur, and Chitrakote began at 8 am.

Some of the prominent candidates in the fray in this phase, include Raman Singh (BJP (/topic/bjp)), Bhawna Bohra (BJP (/topic/bjp)), Lata Usendi (BJP (/topic/bjp)), Gautam Uike (BJP (/topic/bjp)), Mohammad Akbar (Congress), Savitri Manoj Mandavi (Congress), Mohan Markam (Congress), Vikram Mandavi (Congress), and Kawasi Lakhma (Congress).

The state of Chhattisgarh is undergoing elections in two phases, with the second phase scheduled for November 17.

There are a total of 223 candidates in the fray for 20 seats. 5304 voting booths have been set up by the election commission for this phase. There are 40 lakh, 78 thousand, and 681 voters in this phase. Of these, there are 19 lakh, 93 thousand, 937 male voters and 20 lakh, 84 thousand, 675 female voters.

In this phase 13 of the 20 seats are reserved for SC/STs. Overall, in the state, 29 seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs) and 10 seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs).
The counting of votes is scheduled for December 3.