1.44 pc voters in C'garh opted for NOTA in 2019 LS polls

Naxal-hit Bastar Lok Sabha seat saw the maximum number of voters opting for NOTA (none of the above) in the just-concluded general elections.

Of the 1,36,22,725 people who cast their votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Chhattisgarh, 1.44 per cent, or 1,96,265 electors, opted for NOTA, an EC official said Friday.

NOTA stood third behind the BJP and Congress in Bastar, Surguja, Kanker, Mahasamund and Rajnandgaon, he said.

A total of 41,667 voters exercised the NOTA option in Bastar, a seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes, followed by another tribal-dominated seat, Surguja, which saw 29,265 NOTA votes, the official informed.

He said 26,713 voters opted for NOTA in Kanker, 21,241 voters in Mahasamund, 19,436 voters in Rajnandgaon, 19,305 voters in Korba, 15,729 in Raigarh (ST), 9,981 in Janjgir- Champa (SC) 4,365 in Bilaspur, 4,292 in Raipur and 4,271 in Durg.

In the Lok Sabha polls, results of which were declared on Thursday, the BJP won Raipur, Durg, Rajnandgaon, Bilaspur, Surguja (ST), Raigarh (ST), Janjgir-Champa (SC), Kanker (ST) and Mahasamund while the Congress won from Bastar and Korba.