Bhopal/ Raipur, Nov 17: The single-phase Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh concluded at its scheduled time of 6 p.m. on Friday with the state recording a voter turnout of 71.64 per cent till 5 p.m., according to Election Commission data. Polling in three Maoist-affected districts – Balaghat, Dindori and Mandla – concluded at 3 p.m.
Over a dozen reports of clashes between the supporters of different political parties were reported, including firing and stone pelting in the Gwalior-Chambal region.
After the voting got over, the opposition Congress released a long list of incidents and alleged that the supporters of the ruling BJP were found involved in serious offences during polling across Madhya Pradesh.
The Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) claimed the list of offences by BJP workers was prepared on the basis of inputs or complaints received at the party’s war room. The opposition claimed that over 200 complaints were received throughout the day, 15 of them ‘serious’ in nature.
State Congress chief Kamal Nath and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh along with a team of legal experts conducted a detailed analysis on the reports received from the party’ war room, and a message was conveyed to the state police and the Election Commission in this regard, the party said in an official statement.
The MPCC claimed that it has lodged complaints over 15 incidents that were found to be serious offences and the BJP workers were found involved in all of them. The list of serious offences includes an incident in Chhatarpur district, where a Congress cooperator was killed late on Thursday.
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.
A jawan of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) was killed in a blast triggered by Naxalites in Gariaband district of the state when a polling team being escorted by security personnel was returning after conducting voting, they said.
Polling in 70 constituencies began at 8 am and concluded at 5 pm, except in nine polling booths in the Naxal-affected Bindranawagarh seat in Gariaband district, where voting was held from 7 am till 3 pm for security reasons, a poll official said.
“An average voter turnout of 68.15 per cent was recorded in 70 seats till 5 pm. However, this figure may go up as the final data from several booths is yet to be received,” the official said.
The second phase of polls will decide the electoral fate of political heavyweights like Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, his deputy T S 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.
The political fate of a total of 958 candidates – 827 men, 130 women and one transgender person – contesting 70 seats spread across 22 districts, was locked in EVMs. (Agencies)
