Assembly polls for the second and concluding phase for 72 seats spread across 19 districts in Chhattisgarh ended yesterday with a turnout of 60%.
Amid allegations of tampering of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and malfunctioning in several areas, the Election Commission (EC) said over 60% turnout was recorded till 5pm.
The final figure is expected to go up with many voters still standing in queues outside booths after the scheduled closure of polling and the poll panel is still in the process of compiling data.
From first-time voters to centenarians, people from all walks of life queued up to cast their votes.
Among the oldest to exercise their right were 106-year-old Samudri Patel from Baikunthpur in Korea district and 102-year-old Raj Kunwar from Boriyakala in Raipur district.
The highest turnout was recorded in Bindranawagarh at 68% and Baikunthpur at 63.21%.
The EVM malfunctioning was reported from several booths across Dhamtari, Jashpur, Raipur, Ambikapur, Khallari, Raigarh Patan, Sihawa and Korba, with the Congress accusing the state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of “electoral malpractices” and “attempting to disrupt” the poll process.
A Congress delegation led by P L Punia met the EC in New Delhi over the alleged “attempts to misuse and tamper with EVMs in Chhattisgarh”.
Punia said the BJP was “wary of losing the polls, and was trying to influence the polling process through malpractices”.
The Congress also demanded the suspension and arrest of BJP candidate Siddhnath Paikra in Samri in Balrampur district for “distributing money” to voters.
“Is malfunctioning of EVMs a mere coincidence or a conspiracy to vitiate the polling process,” asked state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel in the state capital Raipur.
The EC rejected the allegations of widespread malfunctioning of the voting machines and asserted that faulty EVMs were promptly replaced without any disruption to the voting process.
“Only 47 ballot units, 37 control units and 131 VVPATs needed replacement during the polls. The replacements were handled swiftly by the local polling personnel,” EC spokesperson Sheyphali Sharan said.
The state, carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000, for the first time witnessed a three-way contest with the ruling BJP fighting it with the opposition Congress and the Ajit Jogi-Mayawati-led alliance emerging as a formidable third front.
Voters wait in a queue to cast their ballots during the second and concluding phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly elections in Raipur yesterday.
