MP LS polls second phase: 48.68% turnout in six seats till 3 pm

48.68% voter turnout recorded in six MP constituencies in the second phase of general elections by 3 pm. Damoh had 45.69% turnout, Hoshangabad 55.79%, Khajuraho 43.89%, Rewa 37.55%, Satna 47.68%, and Tikamgarh 49.84%. Voting began peacefully at 7 am and will end at 6 pm. Union ministers Prahlad Patel and Virendra Kumar cast their votes early.

A voter turnout of 48.68 per cent was recorded till 3 pm in six Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh in the second phase of general elections on Friday, an official said.

The polling began at 7 am and is going on peacefully in all the six Lok Sabha seats, the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anupam Rajan told PTI.

Till 3 pm, Damoh recorded a voter turnout of 45.69 per cent, Hoshangabad 55.79, Khajuraho 43.89, Rewa 37.55, Satna 47.68 and Tikamgarh 49.84 per cent, the official said.

Voting in the six seats will end at 6 pm, the official said.

The early voters included Union minister Prahlad Patel in Damoh Lok Sabha seat, which he represented in 2019 and Union minister Virendra Kumar along with his wife in Tikamgarh LS seat. Kumar is seeking a fourth straight term from Tikamgarh and is pitted against Congress candidate Pankaj Ahirwar.

A total of 12,828 polling booths, including 1,136 run by women, have been set up for 1,1162,460 eligible voters of whom 58,32,333 are men, 53,29,972 women and 155 from the third-gender category, the official said.

Satna has the maximum number of candidates at 19, while the lowest is in Tikamgarh with seven contestants.

There are 2,865 sensitive polling booths in the six LS constituencies that are spread over 47 assembly segments in the state.

Facilities like water, medicines and shelter have been provided at all the polling booths, the official said.

State BJP chief V D Sharma is seeking a second term from the Khajuraho seat, where the opposition INDIA bloc is supporting former IAS officer R B Prajapati of All India Forward Bloc against Sharma after Samajwadi Party candidate Meera Yadav's nomination was rejected.

Altogether, 223 flying squad teams and 240 static surveillance teams are keeping a close watch on the polling, the official said.

In the 2014 general elections, a voter turnout of 61.57 per cent was recorded in MP, which increased by 10 per cent to 71.16 per cent in 2019.

The third and fourth phases of Lok Sabha polls will be held on May 7 and 13.

In 2019, the BJP won in 28 of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, while the Congress could only bag the Chhindwara seat.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)