LS polls: 12 pc polling till 9.30 am in Chhattisgarh

Over 12 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the initial two-and-a-half hours of polling in seven Lok Sabha constituencies of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.

Voting for the third phase of Lok Sabha polls in the state began in Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Korba, Janjgir-Champa (SC), Surguja (ST) and Raigarh (ST) amid tight security at 7 am, an election official said.

"Around 12.08 per cent voting has been recorded till 9.30 am," he said.

As many as 123 candidates are in the fray in the seven seats where the main fight is between the ruling Congress and the BJP, which lost power in last year's state Assembly polls.

Altogether 1,27,13,816 voters, including 64,16,252 men, 62,96,992 women and 572 members of the third gender, are eligible to exercise their franchise at 15,408 polling booths set up in the state, the official said.

Raipur and Bilaspur seats have the maximum number of candidates (25), followed by Durg-21, Jangir-Champa - 15, Raigarh -14, Korba-13 and Surguja-10.

Around 60,000 security personnel, including paramilitary and state forces, have been deployed in the state for smooth conduct of voting.

In the 2004, 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha polls held after the formation of Chhattisgarh, the BJP won 10 out of the 11 seats every time.

This time, the Congress, buoyed by its victory in the Assembly elections last year, is hoping to improve its tally in the state.