30 pc polling in Rajnandgaon until noon

Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, Mar 29 (UNI) An estimated 30 per cent of more than 11 lakh voters exercised their franchise till noon today in a byelection to the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat, official sources said.

Polling began at 0730 hrs on a brisk note and was progressing peacefully with no major untoward incident being reported from the seven assembly segments.

''Maoists looted an electronic voting machine from a polling station at Hatrel in Chowki assembly segment last night but voting was unaffected as the machine was replaced before polling began,'' said Returning Officer R S Vishwakarma.

Turnout was heavy in the first few hours till the weather hottened up. Women, who outnumber men in the constituency, were among the early voters.

A keen contest is on the cards as Mr Leelaram Bhojwani (Bharatiya Janata Party) and Mr Devarat Singh (Congress) are locked in a 15-corner contest for the seat that fell vacant following explusion of BJP MP Pradeep Gandhi from the Lok Sabha over his involvement in the controversial 'cash-for-query' scam.

The ruling BJP and Chief Minister Raman Singh have high stakes.

Both Dr Singh's assembly segment Dongargaon and native place Kawardha are in this Lok Sabha constituency. Dr Singh represented Rajnandgaon after the 1999 election.

UNI