Assembly Elections: Madhya Pradesh records 27.62 pc polling, Chhattisgarh sees 19.65 pc turnout till 11 am, says EC

NEW DELHI: Madhya Pradesh recorded a voter turnout of 27.62 per cent while neighbouring Chhattisgarh saw 19.65 per cent polling in the second phase till 11 am on Friday, the Election Commission informed on Friday.

Polling for the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly and 70 seats for the 90-member Chhattisgarh House is underway currently.

While polling for all seats in Madhya Pradesh is being held in a single phase currently, voting for 20 seats in the first phase of the Chhattisgarh polls was held on November 7.

Polling for the second phase in Chhattisgarh began at 8 pm and will continue till 3 pm. However, voting in nine polling stations of Bindranavagarh Assembly constituency is being held from 7 am to 3 pm.

For Chhattisgarh, over 18,800 polling stations have been set up for the second phase of polling. A total of 958 candidates are in the fray across the 70 seats. Voting for 230 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh began at 7 am on Friday.

The voters can cast their ballots until 6 pm, except in the Baihar, Lanji, and Parswara assembly seats of Balaghat district and some booths in Mandla and Dindori districts, where voting will be held until 3 pm.

BJP is seeking to retain power in the state where it has ruled for almost 18 of the past 20 years and Congress is keen to oust the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. 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 election will decide the electoral fates of over 2,500 candidates.

Nearly 5.59 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise. It includes 2.87 crore male and 2.71 crore women voters. There are over 5,000 booths run by women and 183 polling stations run by the disabled, officials said.

The polls, coming nearly six months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, are crucial for both the BJP and Congress for various reasons. The counting of votes for the five states including Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram will be done on December 3.