Chhattisgarh records 65% turnout in remaining 7 seats

Nearly 65 percent of 1.27 crore voters exercised their franchise on Tuesday for seven seats in Chhattisgarh's third and final phase of polling which sealed fate of 123 candidates.

Polling officials said that final figure could go well beyond 70 percent. Polling was entirely peaceful in the state. 

Of the state's 11 seats, polling to insurgency-hit Bastar seat was held in the first phase on April 11 and three constituencies - Mahasamund, Kanker and Rajnanadgaon - went to polls on April 18.

The seats that witnessed voting on Tuesday were Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Korba, Janjgir-Champa (SC), Surguja (ST) and Raigarh (ST). Raipur and Bilaspur seats had the maximum candidates (25 each), followed by Durg with 21, Jangir-Champa with 15, Raigarh with 14, Korba with 13 and Surguja with 10.

The Congress, which ended 15-year-long regime of the BJP in the mineral-rich state in December last year, claimed on Tuesday that it would be winning majority of the state's seats in the counting to be held on May 23.

The Bharatiya Janata Party said that it would repeat 2014 performance, when it had won 10 out of the 11 seats. IANS