LS polls: 60 pc polling till 3 pm in Chhattisgarh

Nearly 60 per cent polling was recorded till 3 pm in Chhattisgarh's three Lok Sabha seats on Thursday as people stood in long queues and braved the scorching heat to cast their votes, an official said.

Voting in the second phase of polling in the state began at 7 am in Kanker, Rajnandgaon and Mahasamund Lok Sabha seats, all having Naxal presence, amid tight security, the official at the state election office said.

"Around 59.72 per cent voting has been recorded till 3 pm," he said, adding that long queues of voters were seen at several polling booths in the three constituencies.

Voting ended in four Assembly segments - Antagarh, Keshkal, Bhanupratappur and Kanker - in the Kanker Lok Sabha constituency and Manpur-Mohla Assembly segment of Rajnandgaon parliamentary seat at 3 pm as per the schedule, he said.

In rest of the four Assembly segments - Sihawa, Sanjari- Balod, Daundilohara and Gunderdehi - of Kanker Lok Sabha seat andseven Assembly segments of the Rajnandgaon parliamentary seat,the polling time is till 5 pm.

In six hypersensitive booths at Odh, Kamabhaundi, Amammora, Badegobra, Sahbinkachhar and Kodomali villages in the Mahasamund Lok Sabha constituency, polling concluded at 3 pm while in remaining areas of this seat,voters can exercise their democratic right till 5 pm, the official said.

Former chief minister Raman Singh, BJP candidate from Rajnandgaon Santosh Pandey, party's state chief Vikram Usendi, Congress leader and women and child development minister Anila Bhediya and other senior leaders cast votes in their respective areas, he said.

According to police, except for the IED (improvised explosive device) blast triggered by Maoists in Mohla-Manpur Assembly segment of Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha constituency, no other untoward incident was reported in the poll-bound areas.