Chhattisgarh polls: 72% voter turnout recorded in the second phase

Heavy turnout had been reported in the Chhattisgarh assembly elections as 72 constituencies today went to the polls to conclude the second and final phase of voting in the state.

Till the last figure came in, about 72 per cent polling in the 72 constituencies were recorded till 6 pm. In the first phase covering 18 seats, 76.28 per cent voters exercised their franchise on November 12 despite the majority of constituencies were in the Naxal-infested pockets. 

According to state electoral officials, the final figure would be known only by Wednesday morning when all the polling parties would return to the district headquarters. A few polling booths in Gariyaband district are located in the interior areas where the red army has its sway.

In 2013 assembly election, 77.27 per cent polling was recorded in Chhattisgarh comprising 90 constituencies. The figure of 2018 polls is likely to be over 75 per cent. 
 

While the fate of over 1269 candidates has been sealed in the electronic voting machines (EVMs), so is the future of the of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government that has been in power for the last 15 years. The counting of votes will take place on December 11.

The Congress party is desperate to topple the BJP rule, the saffron party is working hard to retain the state in a run-up to 2019 general elections. The otherwise bi-polar politics of Chhattisgarh is seeing a three-cornered contest with Ajit Jogi’s Janta Congress Chhattisgarh and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) reaching an alliance.

A presiding officer and two police inspectors in Jogi’s Marwahi constituency have to face the axe for allegedly influencing voters for a particular political party. Of the two police officials, one is son of a BJP Member of Parliament (MP).