Polling momentum remains high in Madhya Pradesh and Phase-II of Chhattisgarh elections (Twitter/ ECI)
2 years ago
Nov 17, 2023
The assembly elections for the single-round in Madhya Pradesh and for the second phase in Chhattisgarh will be held on Friday. The central Indian states will see a direct contest between India's two main national parties—the Bharatiya Janata Party and Indian National Congress. The BJP is the incumbent in MP, while the Congress is in power in Chhattisgarh.
According to the Election Commission of India, 72.05% of voters had exercised their mandate in Madhya Pradesh, while a voter turnout of 69.03% was recorded in Chhattisgarh.
VIDEO | Polling comes to an end for the single phase of assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh. Visuals from polling booth in Gwalior. pic.twitter.com/oN5p9IWqBY
The highest voter turnout of 70.27% was recorded in Madhya Pradesh's Shajapur district, while the lowest turnout of 45.34% was registered in state capital Bhopal as of 3 p.m., according to election officials.
By 3:00 pm, 60.38% of voters had exercised their mandate in Madhya Pradesh, according to data by the Election Commission of India. The state is holding a single-phase election for the 230-seat Legislative Assembly.
By 1:00 pm, 45.40% of voters had exercised their mandate in Madhya Pradesh, showed data by the Election Commission of India. The state is holding a single phase election for the 230-seat Legislative Assembly.
By 11:00 am, 28.32% voters had exercised their mandate in Madhya Pradesh, showed data by Election Commission of India. The state is holding a single phase election for the 230-seat Legislative Assembly.
By 9:00 am, 11.61% voters had exercised their mandate in Madhya Pradesh, showed data by Election Commission of India. The state is holding a single phase election for the 230-seat Legislative Assembly.
The second and final phase of Chhattisgarh assembly elections for the remaining 70 seats will be held on Friday and decide the electoral fate of political heavyweights such as Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, his deputy TS Singh Deo, eight state ministers and four members of Parliament. A total of 958 candidates—827 men, 130 women and one transgender person—are contesting for 70 seats spread across 22 districts.
The first phase of elections for 20 seats in the Naxal-affected state, which has a 90-member assembly, was held on Nov. 7 and saw a high voter turnout of 78%.
The ruling Congress, voted to office in 2018—after 15 years in opposition—and the BJP are the main contenders for power in the state, where the Aam Aadmi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and some regional outfits are also in the fray.
Polling time in all the 70 constituencies is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., except in nine polling booths in the Naxal-affected Bindranawagarh seat in Rajim district, where voting will be held from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. for security reasons.
Madhya Pradesh will vote on Friday to decide the electoral fate of 2,533 candidates in 230 assembly seats, including political bigwigs like Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his predecessor and rival Kamal Nath. The election will be a largely bipolar battle between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress.
Polling will be held from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in all the assembly segments, except in Baihar, Lanjhi and Paraswada seats in Balaghat district; 55 booths in Mandla district's Bichhiya and Mandla seats; and 40 polling stations of Dindori district—all Naxalite affected—where voting time is 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. A total of 64,626 polling stations have been set up in the state.
The Congress, with 114 seats, emerged as the single largest party after the 2018 polls and formed the government with the help of BSP, SP and independent MLAs under the leadership of Kamal Nath. However, the Nath regime collapsed in March 2020 after a rebellion by now Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Congress MLAs loyal to him, paving the way for the return of the BJP government headed by Chouhan.
