BHANUPRATAPPUR: A triangular contest for power is underway for the Bhanupratappur Assembly seat in the tribal regions of the Kanker district. According to a poll official, the voter turnout until 11 AM was recorded at 31.27 percent. Two hours after the voting began on Monday, the voter turnout stood at 9.89 percent.
As many as 7 candidatures are in the fray for one seat reserved for the Scheduled Tribes. BJP candidature Brahmanand Netam cast his vote at Telgara polling booth while Congress fielded candidate, the wife of late speaker Savitir Mandavi arrived with her son to cast her vote at Kaswahi polling booth. Sarva Adivasi Samaj, an umbrella body of tribal communities in Bastar, has also fielded its candidate, former Indian Police Service Officer Akbar Ram Korram, who is contesting as an independent.
Interacting with the media after casting his vote, BJP nominee Brahmanand Netam alleged Savitri Mandavi forced the voters to elect them.
The by-election has been necessitated due to the death of Congress MLA and state Assembly’s Deputy Speaker Manoj Singh Mandavi after a heart attack on October 16.
1,95,678 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise, including 95,186 men, 1,00,491 women, and one third-gender person. A total of 356 polling stations have been set up, of which 239 are in rural areas and the rest in the urban part of the constituency. Paramilitary forces have been roped in for the smooth conduct of polling. The votes will be calculated on December 8th.
Polling is underway across five states and the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, where the Samajwadi Party is locked in a high-voltage contest with the BJP. Bypolls in UP, Odisha, Rajasthan, Bihar, Bhanupratappur, and Chhattisgarh are also being held today.