RAIPUR: In a first, over 1200 voters in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada enthusiastically made it to their polling booths by crossing the swollen Indravati river on inflatable inboard diesel engine-propelled boats to exercise their franchise defying Maoist’s diktat on poll boycott.
Eight such boats pressed into action which made over 100 sorties to ensure the voter got their chance to exercise their voting rights.
A tentative voter turnout of over 56 per cent was recorded in the bypoll.
The figures from the remotely located polling stations are yet to reach the district headquarter following which the data from Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be statistically calibrated, an official in the chief electoral office in Raipur told Express.
The voters who traversed the river amid heavy security were from the areas of Cherpal and Pahurnagar, considered as the Maoist hotbed.
The voting began peacefully amid thick security cover on Monday at 7 AM and concluded peacefully at 3 PM. People were seen turning up enthusiastically in most of the polling booths, said an election official here. The Assembly segment has 273 polling stations.
Over 18,000 security personnel were deployed to ensure fair, peaceful and credible polling. The fate of the nine candidates will be revealed on September 27.
Both the national parties — ruling Congress and Opposition BJP are apparently harping on sympathy votes (their candidates have been victims of Maoist violence) in the predominantly tribal segment of Dantewada seat, where the women voters outnumbered men.
There are 98876 female voters out of the 188263 electorates who are eligible to exercise their franchise.
The bypoll in Dantewada seat was necessitated following the death of a sitting BJP MLA Bheema Mandavi. Barely two days before the first phase of polling in Bastar Lok Sabha constituency this year, he was killed along with four police personnel in a powerful IED blast triggered by the Maoists at Dantewada on April 9.