MP records 70% votes in 1st phase of LS polling

Bhopal: Voting for six parliamentary seats in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections, Madhya Pradesh on Friday recorded around 70 per cent polling as over 1.13 crore voters exercised their franchise. The figure is likely to rise.

The fate of 88 candidates from Chhindwara, Sidhi, Shahdol ST, Jabalpur, Mandla ST and Balaghat was sealed in the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).

Over 75 percent voting took place in Chhindwara where Congress heavyweight Kamal Nath’s son Nakul Nath is seeking reelection. Above 60 percent polling took place in Jabalpur. Balaghat also reported 75 percent voting, while it was around 70 percent in Mandla, 63 percent in Shahdol, and more than 55 percent in Sidhi.

The final figures have not been released, even after 7 p.m. The voting percentage is likely to increase further in all these areas.

Voting took place from 7 a.m. to 6 pm amid strict security arrangements. Voting in three assembly constituencies of Naxalite-affected Balaghat parliamentary constituency ended at 4 p.m. It ended smoothly and peacefully in all 13,588 polling stations.

Voting in the three assembly constituencies of Baihar, Lanji, and Paraswara of Balaghat parliamentary constituency ended at 4 p.m.

Of the total voters, 57.20 lakh are men, 55.88 lakh are women, and 187 are transgender.

A total of 2,651 booths were marked critical, and webcasting was arranged at 8,059. More than 54,000 polling staff were involved in the process.

All eyes were on the Chhindwara parliamentary seat, considered the most prestigious, where Nakul Nath, son of senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Kamal Nath, is seeking a second term in the Lok Sabha. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Vivek Bunty Sahu was pitted against Nath in the Congress stronghold.

From Mandla (SC), senior tribal leader and BJP Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste is pitted against Congress’s Omkar Singh Markam. BJP’s Bharti Pardhi and the Congress’s Samrat Sarswar are fighting in Balaghat. In Jabalpur, Congress’s Dinesh Yadav and BJP’s Ashish Dubey are in the contest; while in Sidhi, BJP’s Dr. Rajesh Mishra and former Congress minister Kamleshwar Patel are in the contest; in Shahdol (SC), Himadri Singh of the BJP and Congress’s Phundelal Marco are fighting. There are seven women among the total 88 candidates on the six seats in the first phase.

There are a total of 29 parliamentary constituencies in the state, and voting is proposed in all of them in a total of four phases. After the first phase is over, voting will be held in the second phase on April 26 in Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Rewa, and Hoshangabad parliamentary constituencies. In the third phase, voting will be held in Morena, Bhind, Gwalior, Guna, Sagar, Vidisha, Bhopal, Betul, and Rajgarh parliamentary constituencies on May 7.

In the fourth and final phase of the state, voting will be held in Dewas, Ujjain, Mandsaur, Ratlam, Dhar, Indore, Khargone, and Khandwa on May 13. The counting of votes for all seats will take place on June 4.

UNI