Chhattisgarh: 34. 5% polling recorded in 3 Lok Sabha constituencies until 11am

In a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress, senior Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel is contesting from the Rajnandgaon parliamentary seat having eight assembly segments against incumbent BJP MP Santosh Pandey

Raipur: Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections began at 7am on Friday in 88 constituencies across 12 states and the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

(Representative Photo)

In Chhattisgarh, the voting percentage for the three Lok Sabha constituencies in all Maoist-affected regions was recorded at 34.5 per cent, as per the election commission’s data until 11am.

“Polling in Kanker, Rajnandgaon and Mahasamund Lok Sabha constituencies started at 7am. Until 11am, 34.5 per cent polling has been registered,” a poll official said.

Among the initial voters, state deputy chief minister Vijay Sharma and former MP Abhishek Singh cast their votes in Kawardha town (Rajnandgaon seat).

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Rupkumari Chaudhary cast her vote in Harratar village (Mahasamund seat) and BJP candidate Bhojraj Nag and his wife cast their votes in Antagarh (Kanker seat).

Of the eight assembly segments in the Kanker Lok Sabha constituency, polling in Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Keshkal and Kanker assembly segments began at 7am and will end at 3pm, said the poll officials mentioned above.

In four other assembly segments – Sihawa, Sanjari-Balod, Daundilohara and Gunderdehi, the polling began at 7am and will conclude at 6pm, he added.

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

Meanwhile, over 200 state and paramilitary personnel were at polling stations across the three seats to ensure peaceful polling.

Altogether 41 candidates are contesting the three Lok Sabha seats.

Of the 41, 15 candidates are in the fray in Rajnandgaon, 17 in Mahasamund and nine in the Kanker Lok Sabha seat.

In a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress, senior Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel is contesting from the Rajnandgaon parliamentary seat having eight assembly segments against incumbent BJP MP Santosh Pandey.

There are 52,84,938 eligible voters, including 26,05,350 men, 26,79,528 women and 60 members of the third gender.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won nine seats while Congress bagged two seats in the state.