Madhya Pradesh: Polling begins in 6 Lok Sabha seats in first phase

Polling got underway Friday morning in six Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, election officials said.

Of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in the BJP-ruled state, polling is being held in Shahdol, Mandla (both reserved for Scheduled Tribes), Jabalpur, Balaghat, Chhindwara and Sidhi seats on Friday.

These six constituencies cover 13 districts and 27 assembly segments. Voting began at 7 am and will end at 6 pm in most places, the official said. Due to security reasons, polling will be held from 7 am to 4 pm in Baihar, Lanji and Paraswada assembly segments of the Naxal-affected Balaghat constituency, he added. As many as 88 candidates -- 81 men and seven women -- are in the fray across the six constituencies. Jabalpur has the highest 19 candidates while Shadold has the lowest ten candidates in the fray. Of the 13,588 booths, where the polling is being held, women officials are in charge of 1,118 booths.

The total number of registered voters in the six constituencies is 1,13,09, 636 (57,20,780 male, 55,88,669 female and 187 transgender). Arrangements for shelter, water and ORS (oral rehydration solution) have been made at polling booths in view of the hot weather. A helicopter has been stationed in the Naxal-hit Balaghat district while an air ambulance would be available in Jabalpur to meet any eventuality, the official said.

There was 77.82 per cent voting recorded in the November 2023 assembly elections in the state. The state recorded 61.57 per cent voting in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The percentage rose to 71.16 in 2019 general elections. Polling for three more phases of Lok Sabha elections in the state will take place on April 26, May 7 and May 13 for the remaining 23 seats. In 2019, the ruling BJP won 28 out of the 29 Lok Sabha seats and is also eyeing the Chhindwara seat, bagged by the Congress.