Over 70 pc voting in by-polls to two Assembly seats in MP

Bypolls to Mungaoli and Kolaras Assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh today recorded 77 per cent and 70 per cent voter turnout respectively.
An Election Commission official said minor clashes between political workers were reported from some areas.
While Ashoknagar District Collector K V S Choudary said 77.05 per cent polling was recorded in Mungaoli, Shivpuri Collector Tarun Rathi told PTI that the turn-out in Kolaras was 70.4 per cent.
Outcome of the two by-elections would be watched keenly as a possible pointer to people's mood ahead of the Assembly elections in the BJP-ruled state, due later this year.
The Congress has fielded Mahendra Singh Yadav from Kolaras and Brijendra Singh Yadav from Mungaoli, while the BJP has fielded Baisahab Yadav from Mungaoli and Devendra Jain from Kolaras.

Overall, 13 candidates are in the fray in Mungaoli and 22 in Kolaras. Counting of votes would take place on February 28.
The bypolls were necessitated due to the death of Congress's Mungaoli MLA Mahendra Singh Kalukheda and its Kolaras MLA Ram Singh Yadav.
Both seats are in the Guna Lok Sabha constituency, represented by Jyotiraditya Scindia.