Madhya Pradesh recorded a voter turnout of 45.40 per cent while neighbouring state Chhattisgarh saw 38.22 per cent polling in the second phase till 1 pm on Friday, informed the Election Commission.
Voting is underway in Madhya Pradesh for the 230-member state assembly in a single phase, while polling for 70 seats for the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly is underway in the second phase. In the first phase, polling was held for the other 20 seats of the Chhattisgarh assembly earlier on November 7.
Polling began in Chhattisgarh at 8 pm and will go on till 3 pm. However, voting is being held in nine polling stations of Bindranavagarh Assembly constituency from 7 am to 3 pm.
Meanwhile in Madhya Pradesh, voting for the 230 Assembly seats began at 7 am today and will go on till 6 pm, except in Baihar, Lanji, and Parswara seats of Balaghat district and some booths in Mandla and Dindori districts where voting will be concluded by 3 pm.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be looking to retain power in the state where it has formed the government to remain in power in almost 18 of the last 20 years. On the other hand, Congress is out to oust the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.
According to the information received, webcasting has also been made available at about 42,000 polling stations. Nearly 700 companies of the central forces and two lakh police personnel of the state have been deployed for security during the poll.
The elections in Madhya Pradesh are going on to determine the electoral fates of over 2,500 candidates. There are nearly 5.59 crore eligible voters including 2.87 crore male and 2.71 crore female voters. There are over 5,000 booths run by women and 183 polling stations run by the disabled, officials informed.
The assembly elections, which are taking place just about six months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, are very crucial for both the BJP and the Congress for various reasons. The counting of votes for all the five states going to polls including Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram will be done on December 3.
