63.47 per cent voter turnout till 6 pm in 7 LS seats in MP

An average 63.47 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 6 pm in the seven Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh that went to the polls Monday, an official said.

Polling was held Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Rewa, Hoshangabad and Betul Lok Sabha constituencies in the second phase of elections in Madhya Pradesh.

Those in queues at the end of polling time at 6 pm will be allowed to vote, the official said.

The voting figures till 6 pm were: Tikamgarh 61.42 per cent, Damoh - 65.43 per cent, Khajuraho - 60.18 per cent, Satna - 60.39 per cent, Rewa - 54.66 per cent, Hoshangabad - 68.38 per cent and Betul - 73.37 per cent, he said.

This data will be updated later as the polling is still underway at some places, he said.

Earlier, Madhya Pradesh's Chief Electoral Officer V L Kantha Rao said polling was peaceful across all the seven constituencies.

"Minor issues related to EVMs were reported at some places but they were sorted out. During the polling, EVMs were changed at 139 polling booths," Rao added.

He said there were complaints about poll boycott at some places in Chhatarpur, Tikamngarh, Damoh and Hoshangabad over civic issues, but officials started the polling process after assuring the voters to look into their grievances.

Rao said there was a tiff between two groups at a polling booth involving local MLA (BJP's Vijay Shah) at Harsud and FIRs were registered against both the groups on their respective complaints.

Union minister Virendra Singh Khatik and BJP MP Prahlad Patel are among the 110 candidates in the fray in the second phase.

All the seven seats that went to the polls Monday were won by the BJP in 2014.

Madhya Pradesh, which has 29 Lok Sabha seats, is voting in four phases.

Polling for six seats was held in the first phase on April 29, while eight seats each will go to the polls on May 12 and 19.

In 2014, the BJP had won 27 seats in the state while the Congress bagged two.

The Congress later increased its tally to three after wresting Ratlam seat from the BJP in a bypoll.