Chhattisgarh: Nearly 70% voter turnout in general, by-polls for panchayat bodies

Raipur, Jan 20: At least 70 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the general and bypolls to elect 512 representatives of three-tier panchayat bodies in Chhattisgarh on Thursday, an official said.

The polls to elect three Jila Panchayat members, 27 members of Janpad Panchayat, 152 sarpanches and 330 panches in 28 districts were held from 7 am to 3 pm, the official from the state election commission said.

A total of 3,04,450 voters, which is 69.59 per cent, exercised their franchise, he said, adding that no untoward incident was reported from any place during the polling process. A total of 4,37,282 voters were eligible to cast ballots, of which 2,18,680 were men, 2,18,600 women and two were from the third gender in both general and by-polls, it was stated.

As many as 1,066 polling stations were set up for both general and bypolls, for which 1,288 candidates were in the fray, the official said.

The general polls were to be held in five Gram Panchayats of Kondagaon district and three of Korea district, while the by-elections were for three Jila Panchayat members - one each in Raigarh, Surajpur and Bijapur districts - 27 Janpad Panchayat members, 144 sarpanches and 330 panches in 28 districts, he added. PTI