Polling to elect 230 member assembly in Madhya Pradesh held on Wednesday where the ruling BJP and opposition Congress are fighting for supremacy.
Polling across on 227 seats out of 230 was held from the usual 8 am and 5 pm, while in three assembly segments – Lanji, Paraswada and Baihar – in the Naxal-affected Balaghat district, voting time was between 7 am to 3 pm.
The Bhartiya Janta Party(BJP) under Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is eyeing a fourth straight term in the state, while the Congress is hoping for a comeback in the state after 15 in the state.
Altogether 74.665.5 percent voters exercised their franchise in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections November 28.
Poll officials said 1,145 EVMs and 1,545 VVPATs were replaced after complaints of technical snags.
Controversy erupted after Congress leader Kamal Nath allegedly showed his party’s symbol just after he had exercised his voting rights. Reports suggest that Nath showed his palm, the election symbol of Congress party while casting his vote in Chindwara, Madhya Pradesh.
Kamal Nath was in the headlines recently owing to an alleged video where he was asking Muslims to vote for Congress. BJP later lodged a complaint with Election Commission and accused him of asking votes on religious grounds
In the meanwhile, Congress complains about faulty EVMs. “Several reports are coming from across the state that EVMs are not working. This has been affecting the polling. Long queues are being witnessed in the city. EC should immediately take decision. The EVMs should be changed,” state Congress chief Kamal Nath tweeted when voting was in progress.
The battle of ballots in Madhya Pradesh is just months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls slated in the first half of 2019. That is the reason many Political Scholars is terming the Madhya Pradesh Election as the semi-final before the mega battle of Lok Sabha 2019.
As many as 2,899 candidates, including 1,094 independents, are in the electoral race for the 230 seats, but the main contest is between the Congress and BJP — the Big Two parties of MP politics.
The Results will be announced on December 11 along with other states assembly elections.