Chhattisgarh Bypolls: 66.87% Voter Turnout Recorded in Seven Lok Sabha Seats by 5 PM

In Chhattisgarh's third and last Lok Sabha phase, 66.87% voter turnout recorded till 5 pm in seven constituencies. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai exudes confidence in BJP's victory in all 11 seats. Incidents of death due to cardiac arrest and bee attacks reported, but voting remains unaffected. Residents boycott elections due to lack of infrastructure. 202 central force companies and 60,000 police personnel deployed for security. 168 candidates contest, with the main battle between Congress and BJP.

A voter turnout of 66.87 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in seven out of the 11 Lok Sabha constituencies in Chhattisgarh, where polling was held in the third and last phase of the general elections in the state on Tuesday, a poll official said.

Polling was held between 7 am and 6 pm in seven seats - Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Korba, Janjgir-Champa (reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates), Surguja (reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates) and Raigarh (ST).

''A voter turnout of 66.87 per cent has been registered till 5 pm,'' the official said.

Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and his family members voted in Bagia, their native village in Jashpur district in the Raigarh Lok Sabha constituency.

Talking to reporters, Sai appealed to voters to exercise their voting right, and exuded confidence that the BJP will win all 11 Lok Sabha seats of the state. ''The feedback of polling in the first two phases for four Lok Sabha seats, the huge response of people during the public rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J P Nadda and other leaders, and the impact of works done in the 10 years of Modi government and three months of our government in Chhattisgarh, clearly indicate that we are going to win all 11 seats in the state,'' he said.

Asked about Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav favouring quota to Muslims, Sai said, ''Their statements make no sense. These people have become extinct species. They indulged in corruption their entire life and have lost the public's trust.'' Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan and his wife cast their votes in Civil Lines, Raipur.

Talking to reporters, the governor appealed to voters to exercise their franchise to elect the government of their choice. ''Voting right is the most valuable right of a citizen, and my appeal to all people is that they must vote to elect the government of their choice. Nobody should refrain from coming to the polling booth and voting,'' he said.

A 71-year-old man collapsed and died while standing in a queue to cast his vote in a village in Jashpur district under the Raigarh Lok Sabha constituency, officials said.

Jartiyus Toppo was waiting to cast his vote at polling booth no 303 in Jamtoli village when he collapsed, a government official said.

The man had reached the polling booth with his son on a motorcycle, he said.

The man was immediately taken to a room at the booth by the poll and security personnel and later shifted to a nearby hospital in an ambulance. Doctors declared him dead on arrival and prima facie, cardiac arrest appears to be the cause of death, the official added.

Meanwhile, 13 people were injured when swarms of bees attacked them in two polling booths of separate constituencies in north Chhattisgarh.

While eight voters were stung by a swarm of bees at the polling booth in Government High School in Aara village of Jashpur district under Raigarh Lok Sabha constituency, five others sustained injuries in a similar incident at Jawaharnagar polling booth in Balrampur district under Surguja constituency, officials said.

''In the Jashpur case, the injured were admitted to the district hospital in an ambulance. The injured in the Balrampur case were provided treatment at a nearby health centre,'' they said, adding that their condition was stated to be normal.

The voting remained unaffected in the two booths and is underway smoothly, they said.

Residents of Dhumadand village in Koriya under the Korba Lok Sabha seat have boycotted the elections, citing the lack of a proper road.

According to officials, security has been beefed up in the state with the deployment of 202 companies of the central forces and more than 60,000 personnel of the police and District Reserve Guard.

Altogether, 168 candidates, including 26 women, are in the fray in the third and final phase of elections in Chhattisgarh.

The main contest is between the Congress and the BJP, which won 10 out of the total 11 seats in the three general elections from 2004 to 2014.

In the 2019 polls, the BJP bagged nine seats, while the Congress got two seats.

A total of 1,39,01,285 persons, including 69,33,121 men, 69,67,544 women and 620 members of the third gender, are eligible to exercise their franchise in the third phase.

Raipur has the maximum number of 38 candidates in the fray, followed by 37 in Bilaspur, 27 in Korba, 25 in Durg, 18 in Janjgir-Champa, 13 in Raigarh, and 10 in Surguja.

There are 15,701 polling booths in the seven constituencies, of which 25 have been categorised as vulnerable and 1,072 as critical.

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