66.31 per cent voter turnout in seven Lok Sabha seats in MP

More than 66 per cent voter turnout was recorded Monday in the second phase of polling in Madhya Pradesh covering seven Lok Sabha seats with no untoward incident reported from anywhere, an Election Commission (EC) official said.

Polling was held in Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho, Rewa, Satna, Hoshangabad and Betul Lok Sabha constituencies in the second phase of elections - fifth round nationwide - in the state.

An average 66.31 per cent voter turnout was recorded at the end of polling in these seven seats, the official said.

Those in queues at the end of polling time at 6 pm were allowed to exercise their franchise, he said.

The highest turnout - 76.44 per cent - was reported from Betul, while the lowest - 60.23 per cent - was in Rewa.

Constituency-wise voting figures were: Tikamgarh 63.41 per cent, Damoh - 64.19 per cent, Khajuraho - 66.42 per cent, Satna - 60.39 per cent, Rewa - 60.23 per cent, Hoshangabad - 72.32 per cent and Betul - 76.44 per cent, he said.

This data will be updated later, 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 were 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.

These seats, located in the Bundelkhand region, had 1.19 crore registered voters.

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 vote 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 the Ratlam seat from the BJP in a bypoll.