CG bypoll: Impressive 77.40% polling in naxal-hit Chitrakot

A tentative voter turnout of 77.40 per cent was recorded on Monday for the bypoll to the Naxal-affected Chitrakot (ST) Assembly segment in Chhattisgarh, a poll official said.

Polling, which was held between 8 am and 5 pm, passed off without any untoward incident.

Counting of votes will be taken up on October 24.

The final turnout figure might go up as reports from some polling booths located in sensitive areas are awaited, the official said.

The bypoll for the seat reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates, which falls in the Bastar region, became necessary after Congress MLA Deepak Baij got elected to Lok Sabha from the Bastar parliamentary constituency.

"No untoward incident was reported during the bypoll. The voting was held successfully, peacefully and in a free and fair manner," Chhattisgarh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Subrat Sahoo told reporters this evening.

Sahoo said a provisional turnout of 77.40 per cent was recorded between 8 am and 5 pm.

The final turnout will be informed on Tuesday after all polling teams return back, he said.

"A total 229 polling stations were set up for the bypoll. Out of these, final reports from some teams are yet to be received. While polling teams have started returning some teams will return on Tuesday in view of security reasons," the CEO explained.

In the 2018 assembly elections, Chitrakot had recorded a voter turnout of 80.32 per cent while it was 78.9 per cent in the 2013 polls.

He said voters overcame Maoist threat and geographical challenges to exercise their franchise.

Voters from Kantabas village in Lohandiguda area crossed the Indravati river on boats to cast their votes, he added.

Sahoo said the presiding officer at Matnar polling booth (No 14) was replaced with a reserve officer following a complaint that he was directing a voter in the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) compartment.

A sub-inspector of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) was also removed from duty in Chitrakot constituency for allegedly misbehaving with voters, he added.

A total of six candidates are in the fray. However, the main contest lies between the Congress and the opposition BJP.

The Congress has pitted tribal leader Rajman Benzam, a new face, against BJP candidate and former MLA Lachhuram Kashyap.

In the Assembly polls held last year, Baij had defeated Lachhuram Kashyap by 17,770 votes.

The Congress had dislodged the BJP from power in the assembly elections.