45 pc turnout in Rajnandgaon poll

Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, Mar 29 (UNI) Nearly 45 per cent of an electorate exceeding 11.74 lakh turned up to exercise their franchise the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha bypoll till this afternoon, official sources said.

Voting began on a brisk note but slowed down as the mercury soared to 40 degrees Celsius. Polling is expected to pick up in the last one and a half hours.

''No major untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the constituency, including 275 sensitive polling stations located in areas where naxals have their presence,'' Returning Officer R S Vishwakarma told UNI.

He said that the rebels looted an electronic voting machine at Hatrel in Chowki assembly segment last night but voting was unaffected as the machine was replaced well in time.

Security personnel, including 25 companies of paramilitary forces, were maintaining a vigil.

Polling would conclude at 1630 hrs and counting is scheduled for April 1.

A keen contest is on the cards as Mr Leelaram Bhojwani (Bharatiya Janata Party) and Mr Devavrat 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 '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