MP poll: 50% voting till 3 pm; several EVMs, VVPATs replaced after snags

Around 50 per cent voting was recorded till 3 pm Wednesday in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections even as there were complaints of faulty Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at some places in the state.

As many as 1,146 EVMs and 1,545 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines were replaced after complaints of technical snags, MP's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) V L Kantha Rao said.

"So far, 50 per cent turnout was recorded in the state till 3 pm," he told reporters here.

Three employees died due to health reasons while performing their poll duties since morning in Dhar, Indore and Guna districts, he said.

Rao said that at Gadhpura in Bhind district, a person was injured in violence but it was not poll-related.

Following complaints of malfunctioning of EVMs, senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia demanded that the Election Commission make up for the time wasted in replacing faulty EVMs by extending the polling time in the booths concerned.

"I want that the EC should compensate for the time lost in replacing the EVMs. It should extend voting time at places where EVMs failed to work," he told reporters after landing in Gwalior to cast his vote.

"I have already spoken to Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat and MP Chief Electoral Officer V L Kantha Rao on this issue over phone," the Lok Sabha member from the state's Guna seat said.

State Congress chief Kamal Nath also expressed concern over complaints of technical snags in EVMs.

"Several reports are coming from across the state that EVMs are not working. This has been affecting the polling. Long queues are being witnessed in the city. EC should immediately take decision. The EVMs should be changed," he said in a tweet.

Earlier, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is the Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate from Budhni seat, and his wife Sadhana Singh cast their votes at his native village Jait, which is part of his Assembly constituency.

The Congress has fielded former Union minister Arun Yadav against Chouhan.

Kamal Nath cast his vote in Chhindwara district while the party's campaign committee chief Scindia exercised his franchise in Gwalior.

Polling is being held from 8 am to 5 pm in 227 seats, while in three Assembly segments of Lanji, Paraswada and Baihar in the Naxal-affected Balaghat district, the voting time is from 7 am to 3 pm.

As many as 2,899 candidates, including 1,094 Independents, are in the fray for the 230-seat Assembly, but the main contest is between the Congress and BJP the Big Two of MP politics.

The state has 5.04 crore eligible voters.

Over three lakh government employees, including nearly 45,000 women, are on poll duty across the state.

As many as 1.80 lakh security personnel, including those drawn from central paramilitary forces, have also been deployed to ensure free and fair polls, Rao said.