An estimated 33 percent voters of about 15.4 million electors in Chhattisgarh have exercised their franchise till 1 pm, sources in the state electoral office said.
The Election Commission (EC) has set 20,967 polling booths across the 11 Lok Sabha seats that are going to the polls today. Sources in the election office said that about 30 per cent polling had been reported in the state.
While maximum 40 per cent polling had been recorded in Raigarh Lok Sabha constituency, a low turn-out was reported in the interior areas of Naxalite-infested Bastar region. Sources said about 15 per cent polling was reported in Bijapur district—one of the worst Naxalite-hit districts in the state.
According to the EC guidelines, polling in two Naxalite-hit Lok Sabha constituencies of Kanker and Bastar will be completed by 3 pm. The move is to evacuate the polling parties in day-light from the interior and inaccessible terrains where the Naxalites have their dominance.
In other constituencies, polling will be completed in by 4 pm, sources said.
Meanwhile, tension prevailed in Bilaspur town when the missing political advisor of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, Shailesh Nitin Trivedi was traced in a seriously injured condition in nearby Korba district.
Trivedi went missing yesterday night from Bilaspur. He along with another aide was found today morning in Korba. Trivedi was brought to Bilaspur today afternoon and had been admitted in a private hospital where his condition was reported to be critical.
Even as police officials said they were investigating the matter, hundreds of Congress workers had mobilised near the hospital that had mounted tension in the town. The Bilaspur Lok Sabha constituency had been in news as two political heavyweights former union minister Dilip Singh Judeo and Jogi’s wife Renu are in the fray as official Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress candidates respectively.
Renu Jogi hinted that BJP candidate was behind the attack. Judeo however denied and said it was a matter to the distribution of money.
