CG NEWS: Kanker, Mahasamund, Rajnandgaon to vote today

RAIPUR,CG: As many as 52,84,938 voters including 26,05,350 male voters, 26,79,528 female voters and 60 third gender voters will exercise their franchise at 6,567 polling stations of three Lok Sabha seats of the state under the second phase elections on April 26 in three Lok Sabha seats of Chhattisgarh.

Talking to media persons here on Thursday, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Chhattisgarh Reena Babasaheb Kangale said that voting will be held in Kanker, Rajnandgaon and Mahasamund Lok Sabha seats.

Voting will be held in seven assembly constituencies- Pandariya, Kawardha, Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon and Khujji assembly constituencies under Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha from 7 am to 6 pm. Polling will be held in Mohla Manpur assembly constituency from 7 am to 3 pm.

Voting will be held at Saraipali, Basna, Khallari, Mahasamund, Rajim, Kurud, Dhamtari and Bindranawagarh (excluding nine polling stations) from 7 am to 6 pm. Voting will be held at nine polling stations of Bindranawagarh assembly constituency from 7 am to 3 pm.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, there were a total 49,07,489 voters and now there are a total 52,84,938 voters, which is an increase of 7.69 per cent. 1,62,624 young voters, whose ages are between 18 and 19, cast their votes for the first time in the Kanker, Mahasamund and Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seats. There are 51,306 Divyang voters, 16,643 voters (above 85 years), 498 voters (above 100 years) and 7,363 service voters in the three Lok Sabha seats. The gender ratio is 1000:1,028 in these three Lok Sabha seats. Average voter per polling station is 805. In the last Lok Sabha elections-2019, 76.04 per cent voters cast their votes in Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha constituency, 74.51 per cent in Mahasamund Lok Sabha seat and 74.27 per cent in Kanker Lok Sabha seat.

In these three Lok Sabha seats, there are 330 Sangwari polling stations, which will be managed by female polling staff and security personnel. 117 polling stations will be managed by youth. 25 polling stations will be managed by Divyang polling parties and 120 Adarsh polling stations have been established. A dry day has been announced 48 hours prior to polling in these Lok Sabha seats and neighbouring districts of other states, starting from 3 pm on April 24 until the completion of the polling process.

Apart from the voter photo identity card, voters will be able to cast their vote by showing 12 other alternative photo documents – Aadhaar Card, MNREGA Job Card, Driving License, PAN Card, Indian Passport, Pension Document with Photo, service identity cards with photo issued by Central / State Government / PSU / Public Limited Companies to their employees, passbooks with photo issued by banks / post offices, smart cards issued by RGI under NPR, Health insurance smart card issued under  the scheme of Ministry of Labour, Government Identity Card issued to Members of Parliament/MLAs/Legislative Council and Unique Disability ID (UDID) card issued to Persons with Disabilities by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India.

On the polling day April 26, 2024, a public and general holiday was declared in all 24 assembly constituencies of these Lok Sabha seats.

Similarly, the Labour Department has also declared April 26, 2024 as “paid holiday” for workers.

As of April 24, 2024, a combined total of 1,267 voters, including 805 individuals aged above 85 and 462 individuals with disabilities, have participated in the electoral process via door-to-door postal voting in these three Lok Sabha seats under the second phase. Additionally, 6,626 postal ballots have been received at the assistance centres managed by election duty officers/employees. Out of 7,363 service voters, 844  postal ballots have been received as of April 24.

In these three Lok Sabha seats, 26,268 polling personnel of 6,567 polling parties have been deployed, with an additional 6,639 personnel held in reserve.

The Indian Air Force choppers have dispatched 72 polling personnel for nine designated polling stations of Kanker Lok Sabha seat while 15 polling personnel have been sent by choppers on Wednesday. All remaining polling parties for these three Lok Sabha seats have been sent to the designated polling stations on Thursday.

In these three Lok Sabha seats, total 222 companies of security forces have been deployed for ensuring free and fair Lok Sabha elections. 23 polling stations have been categorized as vulnerable and 458 as critical, where CAPF personnel are stationed, along with arrangements for webcasting, videography, and micro-observation. Furthermore, 715 sector officers have been deployed to provide updates on the polling percentage to the Returning Officer every two hours.

BLOs will be present at the Voters Assistance Booth in every polling station with the alphabetical voter list and will help the voters to find their name and serial number.

7,974 CU, 8661 VVPAT and 10,572 BU have been provided. Web casting facility has been provided at 3243 polling centres out of total 6567 polling stations where the Election Commission of India will keep a close watch.