Chhattisgarh: Over 77% voting in Chitrakot, forces keep day safe

RAIPUR: Braving Maoists, voters came out in large numbers to exercise their franchise in Chitrakot assembly constituency in Chhattisgarh 's Bastar on Monday.


End of day, the turnout was over 77%, and expected to rise. Counting of votes is on October 24. It's the second time in a month that a region in Maoist-hit Bastar defied the rebels.

In Dantewada - one of the hotbeds of insurgency - over 60.5% voting was recorded in the September 23 bypoll. Unlike Dantewada, where an IED was found near a booth, polling in Chitrakot was incident-free.

"The interim voter turnout at Chitrakot bypoll has been recorded 77.4%. The final turnout will be declared once all polling parties return," chief election officer Subrat Sahoo said. It's close to the 2018 turnout of 80.3% - the highest in Bastar.