Picture : ANI/ X
Madhya Pradesh recorded a voter turn-out of 71.16 per cent till 5 pm On November 17 as polling was underway for the 230-member legislative assembly, an election official said.
According to PTI, Voting in Maoist-affected Balaghat, Mandla and Dindori districts ended at 3 pm while it will continue till 6 pm in other parts of the state.
“Till 3 pm, 60.52 per cent of voters cast their votes in Madhya Pradesh,” state Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Rajan told reporters.
The highest voter turnout of 70.27 per cent was recorded in Shajapur district, while the lowest turnout of 45.34 per cent was registered in state capital Bhopal, he said.
Balaghat district’s Maoist-affected Baihar seat recorded a turnout of 61.87 per cent, Lanjhi 74.40 per cent and Paraswada 72.32 per cent, he said.
However, details of the voter turnout at the polling stations in other Maoist-affected districts are awaited.
There are 2,533 candidates in the fray, including political heavyweights like Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan (of the Bharatiya Janata Party) and his predecessor and rival Kamal Nath (belonging to the Congress).
Prominent among those who voted early include Chouhan and his family, Nath along with his family, Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Prahlad Patel, state BJP president VD Sharma and BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya.
State home minister Narottam Mishra, sports and youth welfare minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia, industries minister Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon and state CEO Anupam Rajan were also among those who cast their votes in the morning.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and his son and former minister Jaivardhan Singh, who is contesting from Raghogarh, also cast their ballots along with family members.
Meanwhile, A voter turnout of 68.15 per cent (provisional) was recorded in the second phase of Chhattisgarh assembly elections for 70 constituencies on Friday, where voting was held under a thick security blanket of police and paramilitary personnel, officials said.
The second and final phase of Chhattisgarh assembly elections for the remaining 70 seats would decide the electoral fate of political heavyweights like Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, his deputy TS Singh Deo, eight state ministers and four members of Parliament.
The second phase of polls will decide the electoral fate of political heavyweights like Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, his deputy TS Singh Deo, eight state ministers and four members of Parliament.
In the 2018 assembly polls, a voter turnout of 76.62 per cent was recorded on 72 seats in the second phase. This time, two of these constituencies were covered in the first phase of polling held on November 7.
