Bhopal, Nov 17 (UNI) An estimated 20 to 25 percent largely-peaceful voting was recorded until 11 a.m. on Friday in the heartland state of Madhya Pradesh where single-phase exercise of franchise is underway amid tight security arrangements across all 230 Assembly constituencies vis-à-vis formation of the state’s 16th Vidhan Sabha.
Rajgarh district recorded the highest 16 percent while Indore was in the region of 7 percent.
“A section of the press reported firing outside a polling centre in Morena district’s Mirghan village but the Collector denied any such incident. A minor scuffle was all that occurred and was settled owing to timely intervention by law-enforcement personnel. The homicide of a Congress candidate’s driver was perpetrated in Chhatarpur district on Thursday but is not connected with the voting,” Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Rajan told media representatives here.
Meanwhile, a UNI report said that three individuals sustained injuries during a clash between two groups in Chambal division’s Morena district’s Dimani constituency where Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar is in the fray. Trouble brewed when some persons pelted stones at voters.
All principal candidates have been detained in every constituency of Bhind district as a precautionary measure. Similar is the case with some nominees in Morena district.
Isolated instances of malfunctioning of electronic voting machines caused brief delays.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his family voted at their native village Jait in Sehore district. Union Civil Aviation and Steel Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia did likewise in Gwalior; Home Minister Narottam Mishra cast his vote in Datia district, erstwhile CM Kamal Nath in Chhindwara and BJP General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya in Indore.
The time limits are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. with the exception of certain polling centres in Leftwing extremism-affected Balaghat, Dindori and Mandla districts where voting will cease at 3 p.m.
An electorate exceeding 5.60 crore – including more than 2.71 crore women and 1,292 of the third gender – is eligible to participate in the democratic exercise at 64,626 polling centres – including 17,032 critical ones – to decide the fortunes of 2,533 nominees including 252 females and one member of the third gender.
A total of 1,316 vulnerable areas were identified. Monitoring through webcasting and closed-circuit television has been arranged at more than 42,000 centres.
The ruling BJP and the principal-opposition Congress have fielded their representatives for all seats whereas other figures include Bahujan Samaj Party 181; Samajwadi Party 71 and 1,166 independents.
Among the prominent contestants are Chief Minister Chouhan (Budhni), Congress state head Kamal Nath (Chhindwara), Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Food-Processing Industries Prahalad Singh Patel (Narsinghpur), Union MoS for Steel and Rural Development Faggansingh Kulaste (Niwas) and Mr Vijayvargiya (Indore-1).
Counting is slated for December 3.
