The second and final phase of the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections for 72 seats went to polls today amid tightened security. Over 1 lakh security personnel have been deployed in the polling constituencies.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is eyeing a fourth straight term in the tribal-dominated state as the opposition Congress seeks to return to power after 15 years. As many as 1,079 candidates, including 72 each from the BJP and the Congress, are in the fray. Forty-six are for the general category, while nine are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 17 for Scheduled Tribes candidates.
For the second phase of polls, there are 1,53,85,983 voters, including 77,46,628 men, 76,38,415 women and 940 of the third gender. As many as 19,296 polling booths have been set up for the second phase.
Chhattisgarh Assembly elections 2018 – Phase 2- LIVE UPDATES:
17:30 pm: 64.8 % voter turnout recorded till 5 PM in the second phase of #ChhattisgarhAssemblyElections
17:00 pm: Polling for second phase concludes.
16:30 pm: 59.41% voting recorded till 4 pm in the second phase of voting.
16:00 pm: 58.47 % voting recorded till 4 pm in the second phase of voting.
15:30 pm:
Sarangarh 50.76%
Kharsia 41.00%
Dharamjaigarh 50.17%
Dharsiwa 44.70%
Raipur City Gramin 42.92%
Raipur City West 47.13%
Raipur City North 36.40%
Raipur City South 39.70%
15:00 pm: The state saw a voter turnout of 45.2 percent till 3 pm.
14:30 pm: The state saw a voter turnout of 25 percent till 12.30 pm.
14:00 pm: Talking to Moneycontrol, Congress state unit chief Bhupesh Baghel said, “Anti-incumbency is a factor, it will definitely benefit us this time around.”
13:55 pm: Congress candidate from Ambikapur and Leader of Opposition in the Chhattisgarh Assembly, TS Singh Deo, while speaking to the media, said he was confident of Congress’ win in the state as the farmers were supporting the party. When asked about Congress’ claims of EVM tampering, Deo said it is not uncommon now for one to hear of such incidents as around 20-25 machines are malfunctioning in one constituency and this was a clear case of misconduct.
13:30 pm: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh casts his vote at a polling booth in Kawardha.
13:00 pm: According to Firstpost, in Raipur’s Boriakala, around 1,100 names of voters are missing from the voter list. Booth No. 243 has 99 names missing while at booth no. 244 has 1,061 names are missing. The officials are saying their votes have been shifted to other booths, but the voters are unaware of those booths.
12:40 pm: The second phase of polling Chhattisgarh Assembly elections saw a voter turnout of 23.71 percent till 12 pm.
12:15 pm: Voter Turnout till 11 am:
Jashpur 13.90%
Raipur City North 13.79%
Premnagar 13.17%
Bharatpur-Sonhat 13.12%
Kawardha 13.00%
Gunderdehi 13.00%
Dharsiwa 12.60%
Abhanpur 20.35%
Masturi 18.75%
Dharamjaigarh16.00%
Patan 15.92%
Durg Gramin 15.00%
Sanjari balod 15.00%
Lundra 15.00%
12:05 pm: “Reports of EVM problems have surfaced. There is conspiracy noted in areas where the Congress has a stronghold like Ambikapur, polling also started 2 hours late”, says Congress’s PL Punia after meeting the Election Commission.
12.00 pm: Chattisgarh Assembly elections results will be declared on December 11.
11:45 am: On the other hand, BJP candidate Rajesh Munat said, “Congress has no poll issue. Our focus is on ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’. Chhattisgarh, which was falling behind, is now finally on a path of development.”
11:35 am: Talking to CNN News18, Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh said, “Congress only raises slogans, it doesn’t deliver. I request everyone to vote. What we have done in Chhattisgarh is clearly seen by all. Farmers are happy as we have done our bit to help them.”
“The things we’ve done in Chhattisgarh speaks volumes. We have won the trust of the citizens and the farmers, nothing happens from speeches and false promises,” he added.
11:26 am: A delegation of Congress leaders led by PL Punia meet the Election Commission in Delhi over alleging attempts to misuse and tamper EVMs in Chhattisgarh.
11:20 am: In Jashpur, voting hasn’t started in many areas due to faulty EVMs.
11:10 am: In the Sihawa constituency of Dhamtari, no one has been able to cast votes since morning due to technical glitches.
11:03 am: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted in Hindi urging voters to vote in the second phase of the Chhattisgarh elections.
11:00 am: Minor technical glitches stopped voting, but were later corrected at polling booths of Sarguja and Dhamtari seats.
10:46 am: 12.54% voting recorded till 10 AM in the second phase of voting.
10:25 am: Voters have boycotted the elections in Bhatgaon constituency over ‘zero’ development and not even a single vote has been cast here so far. Officials trying to convince people to come out and vote.
10.15 am: Former CM Ajit Jogi and his son Amit Jogi castes their vote in Marwahi.
10:05 am: Congress worker Ramvilas Agarwal from Udaipur in Ambikapur alleged that his car was torched by BJP workers late Sunday night. He also alleged that BJP workers attacked him.
10:00 am: The state saw 10 percent voting till 9 am.
9:45 am: Polling at the four centres of Kawardha resumed after the technical glitch was rectified. Polling remained affected for 15 minutes.
9:30 am: Voting has stopped at four centres in Kawardha, due to a technical glitch in the EVMs.
9:25 am: Issues were reported with EVMs at polling booths in Kota and Marwahi constituencies in Chhattisgarh. Voting hasn’t begun in these seats so far.
9:20 am: In Raipur, voting on booth numbers 126 and 127 was halted because of EVM malfunction.
9:15 am: Voting also stopped in a polling centre in the Bharatpur Sonhat Vidhan Sabha after the EVM stopped working.
9:08 am: EVM glitches reported from Raipur, Koreya. In Koreya, voting did not start in the Urumduga polling booth due to an EVM glitch.
9:05 am:
9:00 am: Voting stopped in Balrampur’s Mahaveerganj, Deviganj, and Bhanaura booth due to EVM malfunction
8:52 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi also appeal to voters of Chhattisgarh to caste their vote.
8:45 am: Union Sports Minister tweets saying, “Your vote is your voice. I urge all the voters of Chhattisgarh to come out and cast their vote. Your vote will decide the future of Chhattisgarh!”
8:40 am: Rs 2 lakh was recovered from BJP candidate Siddhnath Paikra in Samri constituency in Chattisgarh and the money was allegedly distributed in villages yesterday night ahead of the elections. He was arrested immediately.
8:30 am: Congress leader Jaiveer Shergill tweets saying, “Polling begins in #Chhattisgarh every vote is being/will be casted to oust BJP.
8:25 am: BJP president Amit Shah appeals voter to caste their vote
8:20 am: While exercising their voting right today, voters will keep infrastructure development, sanitation, security, government jobs in their mind.
8:00 am: Voting begins in remaining 70 seats of 72 in final phase, 1,079 candidates in the fray. Visuals of polling stations:
7:30 am: A total of 19,296 polling booths have been set up for the second and final phase.
7:10 am: The first phase of elections on November 12 witnessed a voter turnout of 76.28 percent, considerably higher than the 2013 first-phase turnout.
7:02 am: Polling in two constituencies including Amaamora and Modh began.
7 am: Mock polling was conducted at a polling station in Surguja’s Ambikapur.
6:55 am: A Naxal was killed during cross-firing between District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Naxals in Sukma’s Fulbagdi area late on Monday.
Also Read: Chhattisgarh Assembly elections 2018: Polling for second phase begins