Raipur, Jun 4 (PTI) The counting of votes began Tuesday morning for the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh, where the ruling BJP is engaged in a bipolar electoral battle with the Congress.
The counting of votes began at 8 am in 33 centres, an election official said.
A 72.8 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the 11 Lok Sabha constituencies, where polling was held in three phases on April 19, April 26 and May 7.
Prominent BJP candidates included state minister Brijmohan Agrawal and party leader Saroj Pandey. Former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and his party colleague Kawasi Lakhma were the key candidates from the Congress.
The BJP is hoping to repeat its recent success in assembly elections while Congress is eyeing to improve its tally.
The counting of postal ballots was undertaken first. Half an hour later, the process of counting votes from the Electronic Voting Machines will start, the official said.
Votes are being counted in 94 halls, one each in 86 assembly constituencies and two each in four assembly segments.
The BJP won 10 of the 11 seats in the three general elections from 2004 to 2014. In the 2019 polls, the BJP bagged nine seats, while the Congress won two.
In the high-profile Raipur seat, the competition is between BJP’s influential leader and state minister Brijmohan Agrawal and Congress’ Vikas Upadhyay, a former MLA.
In another high-profile Rajnandgaon seat, the battle is between BJP’s sitting MP Santosh Pandey and Congress’ Bhupesh Baghel, former chief minister and present MLA.
In Korba seat, BJP fielded its influential woman leader and former MP Saroj Pandey against Congress’ sitting MP Jyotsana Mahant, wife of the leader of opposition in assembly Charandas Mahant.
In Durg, the Congress chose a fresh face, Rajendra Sahu, against BJP MP Vijay Baghel.
In Bastar constituency, the contest was between Congress’ firebrand leader Kawasi Lakhma and BJP’s Mahesh Kashyap, a newcomer.
In Bilaspur seat, Congress fielded incumbent MLA Devendra Yadav while BJP fielded Tokhan Sahu, a former MLA.
In the lone SC-reserved Janjgir-Champa constituency, former state minister Shivkumar Dahariya was the Congress’ nominee, and Kamlesh Jangde, a woman leader, the BJP nominee.
In Surguja, the contest was between BJP’s Chintamani Maharaj, who defected from the Congress before the last assembly polls, and Congress’ Shashi Singh, a fresh face.
In the tribal-dominated Raigarh, BJP’s Radheshyam Rathiya was pitted against Congress’ Dr. Menka Devi Singh, who belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Sarangarh. PTI TKP NSK VT VT
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