Nearly a quarter vote in Chhattisgarh

Nearly a quarter of the electorate in Chhattisgarh's seven Lok Sabha constituencies cast their ballots in the first few hours of balloting Thursday, officials said.

About 22 percent voters had cast their ballot by 11 a.m., poll officials said.

Balloting in the third and final phase of voting in the state was heavy in the interior areas.

However, in the urban areas it has been comparatively sluggish.

Polling has been peaceful and no untoward incident has been reported yet.

More than 11.8 million voters are eligible to exercise their franchise.

As many as 153 candidates are in the fray.

Balloting is being held at 14,474 polling booths where 72,120 poll officials have been tasked with the job of holding free and fair polls.