Live: Moderate voting registered in Madhya Pradesh bypolls

3.40 pm: 41 per cent voting was recorded till 1 pm in the by-elections to Shahdol Lok Sabha constituency, while the turnout was 53.28 per cent in Nepanagar Assembly seat .

12.01 pm: In Shahdol Lok Sabha seat, nearly 15 per cent electorates exercised their franchise till 9 AM: Poll official

About 16 per cent polling was recorded in Nepanagar till 9 AM: Poll official

By-elections to Shahdol Lok Sabha constituency and Nepanagar Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, which have assumed significance as the first major ground test for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party after demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, is underway on Saturday.

"Total 17 candidates are in the fray for the Shahdol Lok Sabha seat, while four are trying their luck for Nepanagar," an election official said today. 

Both the seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.

Thirty companies (15 each) of armed police forces have been deployed in the two constituencies to provide security during the polling.

"Over 4,000 EVMs will be used to seal the fate of the candidates. The EVMs also carry the photographs of the candidates to facilitate the voters," the official said.

In Shahdol, total 16,00,787 voters, whereas in Nepanagar, 2,30,420 people can exercise their franchise.

While Congress has fielded Himadri Singh, daughter of former union minister Dalbir Singh and ex-MP Rajesh Nandini Singh, from Shahdol Lok Sabha seat, the BJP has given ticket to tribal leader Gyan Singh, a senior minister in Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's cabinet from the reserved seat.

The Shahdol bypoll was necessitated due to death of BJP MP Dalpat Singh Paraste. In 2014, Paraste had wrested the seat from Congress's Rajesh Nandini Singh by a margin of over 2.14 lakh votes. The present BJP candidate Gyan Singh had earlier won the Shahdol seat twice in 1996 and 1998.

In Nepanagar, Congress has reposed faith in tribal leader Antar Singh Barde, while BJP has fielded Manju Dadu, daughter of late MLA Rajendra Shyamlal Dadu, whose death caused by an accident, necessitated the bypoll to cash in on the sympathy vote.

Besides these prominent names, several other candidates have also filed their nominations for the bypolls.

Communist Party of India's Parmeshwar Singh Porte, Lok Janshakti Party's Krishna Pal Singh Pavel, Gondwana Gantantra Party's Hirasingh Markm and Apna Dal's Sajjan Singh Paraste, among others are in the fray for the Shahdol Lok Sabha seat. Besides them, total nine persons are contesting as independent candidates in Shahdol.

In Nepanagar, Republican Party of India (A) nominee Revanta and Lok Janshakti Party' Ber Singh are also trying their luck. However, there is no independent candidate in the fray, the official said.

The counting of votes will take place on November 22 and the entire poll process will be completed by November 24.