Mizoram records 52.73 pc polling till 1 pm, Chhattisgarh sees 44.75 turnout for 20 seats

Aizawl/Raipur [India]: Mizoram recorded 52.73 per cent polling while 44.55 per cent voters exercised their franchise in Chhattisgarh till 1 pm in the first phase of polling in 20 assembly seats in the state, according to Election Commission data.

The poll panel data showed Bhanupratappur assembly constituency in Chhattisgarh recorded the highest voter turnout of 61.83 per cent in till 1 pm, closely followed Kanker at 61.80 per cent. It was 56 per cent in Mohla-Manpur, 55.56 per cent in Antagarh, 54.04 per cent in Kondagaon and 52.66 per cent in Keshkal.

The polling started at 7 am for ten seats – Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta.

Voting for the remaining assembly constituencies – Pandaria, Kawardha, Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur, and Chitrakote began at 8 am.

The polling will decide electoral fate of former Chief Minister Raman Singh and BJP leaders Bhawna Bohra, Lata Usendi and Gautam Uike. The prominent Congress leaders in fray in this phase include Mohammad Akbar, Savitri Manoj Mandavi, Mohan Markam, Vikram Mandavi and Kawasi Lakhma.

A total of 223 candidates, including 25 women, are in the fray in the first phase of Chhattisgarh polls. The Election Commission set up 5,304 polling booths for this phase in the state. The polling is taking place in Naxal-affected region of the state apart from some other seats .

Mizoram is going for polls in all 40 seats in the state.

According to poll data till 1 pm, Tuichawng seat reported a voter turnout of 63.00 per cent, Tuikum 62.62 per cent, East TuiPui 61.17 per cent, Tuichang 60.20 per cent and Lawngtlai West 59.93 per cent.

The polling started at 7 am for the 40-member state assembly elections.

Chief Minister Zoramthanga, who is chief of Mizo National Front, is seeking re-election from Aizawl East – I.

Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) chief Lalduhoma, a former IPS officer, who is also the party’s chief ministerial candidate, is in the fray from Serchhip.

In the 2018 assembly elections, the Mizo National Front (MNF) secured 26 seats with a vote share of 37.8 per cent and ousted Congress from power.

The Mizo National Front, Indian National Congress and the Zoram People’s Movement have fielded candidates for all 40 seats and BJP has fielded 23 candidates.

Voting in the remaining 70 seats in Chhattisgarh will be held on November 17. Counting of votes will be taken up on December 3 in Mizoram and Chhattisgarh along with three other states.