Chhattisgarh: Voting in bypolls to elect 504 panchayat representatives begins

The voting for the by-election to elect 504 representatives of three-tier panchayat bodies in 28 districts of Chhattisgarh began on Thursday morning. According to state election commission, the polling will be held from 7am to 3pm.

Apart from this, voting to elect eight sarpanch in as many village panchayats of two districts is also being held simultaneously. The sarpanch have to be elected in five gram panchayats of Kondagaon district and three of Korea district.

The electoral exercise is being held under the shadow of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. The state election commission has deployed one healthcare personnel at each polling booth.

Each member of the polling team will have to follow all precautionary measures, including wearing masks, using hand sanitisers and maintaining social distancing, as per the norms set by the commission.

There are 1,288 candidates in the fray for both the general election and bypolls, for which 1,066 polling stations have been set up.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made at all polling stations to ensure fair and peaceful polling.

In the elections held for urban local bodies in December, the ruling Congress party had defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While the Congress won 174 wards, the BJP could manage 89 wards. The Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) won in six while independent contestants won in 31 wards.

Chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said that the results were expected and people have voted keeping in mind the government’s policies and schemes.

The elections were held in 300 of the total 370 wards.