50.50 pc voter turnout in Raipur City South assembly seat bypoll down from 60 pc in 2023

Raipur, Nov 13 (PTI) A voter turnout of 50.50 per cent was recorded in a largely peaceful by-election to the Raipur City South assembly constituency in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, a poll official said.
A total of 30 candidates were in the fray for the bypoll, but the main contest was between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Sunil Kumar Soni and Congress nominee Akash Sharma.
"The voting process, which began at 7 am amid tight security, concluded at 6 pm. An average voter turnout of 50.50 per cent was recorded," the official said.
However, the figure is provisional and the final turnout number may change partially after polling station-wise data is fully compiled and documents of election personnel on duty at booths are analysed, he said.
In the last year's assembly elections, the Raipur City South constituency had recorded a turnout of 60.2 per cent.
No untoward incident was reported in the constituency during the bypoll, the official said.
BJP candidate Soni and Congress nominee Sharma cast their votes at Maharana Pratap School and Pt Sundarlal Sharma School polling booths in the capital city, respectively.
The seat fell vacant after sitting BJP MLA and former state minister Brijmohan Agrawal resigned following his election to the Lok Sabha from Raipur in June this year.
Votes will be counted on November 23.
According to poll officials, there are 2,71,169 voters -- 1,33,800 males, 1,37,317 females and 52 transgenders -- in this constituency. A total of 253 booths were set up for the bypoll and more than 1,000 security personnel were deployed to ensure peaceful polling.
In the 2023 assembly elections, the BJP had registered a landslide victory, winning 54 of the 90 seats in the state, while the Congress bagged 35. The Gondwana Gantantra Party, a regional outfit, had emerged victorious in one assembly segment.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)