Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha constituency

NOTA was the third-most successful 'candidate' in the 2014 Lok Sabha election in Rajnandgaon constituency. (PTI file photo)

Rajnandgaon is one of 11 Lok Sabha constituencies in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh and will cast vote in the second phase of the election this year - on April 18.

Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha constituency comprises of eight assembly segments - Pandariya, Kawardha, Khairagarh, Dongargarh (SC), Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji and Mohala-Manpur (ST).

In the 2014 Lok Sabha election here, Abhishek Singh - son of former state CM Raman Singh - was chosen to lead BJP into battle and he managed to defeat Congress' Kamleshwar Verma by more than 2.2 lakh votes. Interestingly, NOTA (None Of The Above) emerged as a third most popular choice among voters here which was a blemish on the reputation of political parties and candidates contesting, with a voter turnout of 74.04 per cent.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, it was BJP once again that raced to the finish line with Madhusudan Yadav bringing down Congress' Devvrat Singh by over one lakh votes. The voter turnout was 58.86 per cent.

The total number of electors in the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha constituency is around 16 lakh.