LS polls: Tentative 75.51 pc turnout for eight seats in MP

Around 75.51 per cent voter turnout was recorded for the eight Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday, as per the information received till 10 pm from the state electoral office.

The final figures would be provided later, a poll official said.

Dewas, Ujjain, Mandsaur, Ratlam, Dhar, Indore, Khargone and Khandwa were the eight constituencies that went to polls in the fourth and final phase of the general election in the state.

As per information provided till 10 pm by the state electoral office, voting figures were: Dewas 79.46 per cent, Ujjain 74.93, Mandsaur 77.74, Ratlam 75.19, Dhar 74.74, Indore 69.56, Khargone 77.51 and Khandwa 76.80 per cent, another poll official said.

In 2014 general elections, a voter turnout of 61.61 per cent was recorded across all 29 constituencies in Madhya Pradesh.

Polling began at 7 am and those in queue at 6 pm, when voting officially ends, were allowed to exercise their franchise, MP Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) V L Kantha Rao said.

The BJP had won all these eight seats in Malwa-Nimar region of the state in the last general elections.

However, the Congress had put up a good show in this region in the last years' Assembly polls.

An average 69.26 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the first three phases of the Lok Sabha polls in the state, Rao said.

He said during the mock poll, either the EVM ballot unit or the control unit or the VVPAT printer was replaced in 344 booths, and the same had to be done in 70 booths during actual voting.

Prominent candidates in the fray are former Union ministers Kantilal Bhuria and Arun Yadav of the Congress, who are contesting from Ratlam and Khandwa seats, respectively.

Altogether 82 candidates, including Bhuria and Yadav, are contesting in the eight constituencies where there are 1.49 crore eligible voters.

Of these, 20 are contesting in Indore, 13 in Mandsaur, 11 in Khandwa, nine each in Ujjain and Ratlam, seven each in Dhar and Khargone, and six in Dewas, Rao said.

Over 56,000 security personnel, including 83 companies of the central forces and 49 of the state forces, have been deployed to ensure smooth conduct of the polls, he said.

Total 18,411 polling booths, including 1,157 entirely managed by women, were set up in these seats, Rao said.

Out of the total 29 Lok Sabha seats in MP, six went to polls on April 29, seven on May 6 and eight on May 12.

Counting of votes would be held on May 23.

In Indore, a newly-wed couple, Gaurav Yadav and his wife Sonal, decked up in finery, exercised their franchise at a polling booth in Nayapura area even as the 'baraat' (marriage party) waited outside.

At least two men aged above 100 -- Madhukar Veerkar (101) and Sunderlal Mahajan --cast their votes along with their family members.

In Muslim dominated Khajrana area in Indore, a large number of local residents queued up outside polling booths in scorching heat.

A Muslim voter said the ongoing Ramzan fast had no impact on the voting turnout as far as the community is concerned.