Polling begins in Chhattisgarh

Raipur, Nov 7 : Polling for the assembly seat of Vaishali Nagar in Chhattisgarh began Saturday amid tight security, an official said.

Women were seen lined up at booths in urban areas of Vaishali Nagar in Durg district much before voting began at 8 a.m. However, polling began at dull note in village areas.

As many as 221 polling booths have been set up. Extra policemen were deployed at 65 booths that were declared sensitive and hyper-sensitive.

About 2,11,000 voters are expected to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 15 candidates though the main contest is between state's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Jageshwar Sahu and the main opposition Congress nominee Bhajan Singh Nirankari.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the third force in Chhattisgarh politics, has decided to stay out of the contest.

The by-poll was necessitated after BJP legislator Saroj Pandey was elected to the Lok Sabha in May and vacated the assembly seat that she won in the November 2008 polls.