Voters from Bairhana, Bichhian villages boycott Chitrakoot Assembly bypoll over poor infrastructure

Bhopal: Peeved at poor infrastructure in their areas, voters from two villages in Madhya Pradesh's Chitrakoot Assembly constituency boycotted the by-election being held on Wednesday.The residents of Bairhana and Bichhian villages had earlier warned the Satna district authorities that they will boycott the by-election, if proper roads and buildings were not built in their areas.[caption id="attachment_4201667" align="alignleft" width="380"] Representational image. AFP[/caption]The villagers are boycotting the bypoll to press for their demands of construction of roads, school and other developmental works, Madhya Pradesh's chief electoral officer Salina Singh told reporters in Bhopal.Election officials are requesting the electorate in these villages to participate in the polling, she said.Polling is underway in the Chitrakoot Assembly seat where about 33.8 percent voter turnout has been recorded till 1 pm, an official of the Election Commission said.The voting started in the constituency at 8 am.Congress candidate Nilanshu Chaturvedi, BJP's nominee Shankar Dayal Tripathi and 10 others are in fray for the by-election in the Assembly segment, which lies bordering Uttar Pradesh. The BSP has not fielded its candidate in the bypoll.The by-election was necessitated following the death of Congress MLA Prem Singh (65) after a prolonged illness in May. He had won the Chitrakoot seat thrice -- in 1998, 2003 and 2013.There are 1.98 lakh voters in the Chitrakoot Assembly constituency, an EC official earlier said.As many as 257 polling booths with VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) machines were set up for the bypoll, he said.Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and Madhya Pradesh BJP chief Nandkumar Chouhan had campaigned for the party's candidate.Besides, Congress chief whip in Lok Sabha Jyotiraditya Scindia, former Union minister Kamal Nath, Leader of Opposition in Madhya Pradesh Assembly Ajay Singh tried to drum up support for their party's nominee.