Raipur: Polling for the final phase of the assembly elections in Chhattisgarh's 51 constituencies began Thursday morning with enthusiastic voters queuing up at polling stations in large numbers.

Voting started at 8 a.m. amid tight security. Poll officials said voters in urban areas queued up much before the balloting started. However, the turn-out was low key in the state's tribal areas of Surguja, Koria and Jashpur.

Officials said they expected the voting to pick up as the day progresses.

Thursday's voting will decide the fortunes of 687 candidates, including Chief Minister Raman Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress leader Ajit Jogi.

About 8.8 million voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in 10,314 polling stations. Chhattisgarh has total 90 seats and polling for 39 seats was held Nov 14.

 

Source : IANS