More than 50% voter turnout in Madhya Pradesh; 58% in Mizoram

At least 50% voters had turned up to vote until 3 pm in Madhya Pradesh, according to the state’s chief electoral officer.

In both Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram, polling began at 7 am in some constituencies and 8 am in others on Wednesday, November 28. In Madhya Pradesh, in the three Maoist-affected constituencies of Balaghat district, the polling began at 7 am amid tight security, while in the remaining 227 of the 230 Assembly seats polling will began at 8 am.

The polling will end in the three constituencies—Baihar, Lanji and Paraswada—at 3 pm, while it will continue till 5 pm in all the other constituencies.

Technical glitches have been reported from many booths in the state, including Gwalior's Dabra. Two faulty EVMs in Ujjain have been replaced; 11 VVPAT machines in Alirajpur, 5 VVPAT and 2 EVMs in Burhanpur have also been also replaced.

The contest is mainly between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, though the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) are also in the fray.

Among the 2,907 candidates in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has fielded candidates in all 230 seats, while the Congress is contesting in 229 seats leaving one seat, Jatara in Tikamgarh district, for Sharad Yadav-led Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD).

The BSP has fielded 227 candidates and the SP is contesting in 51 seats. There are 1,102 Independent candidates.

In the last polls, of the 230 seats, the BJP won 165, Congress 58, BSP four and Independents three.

Over five crore registered voters in Madhya Pradesh—2,63,01,300 men, 2,41,30,390 women and 1,389 of the third gender—will decide the fate of candidates.

Polling begins amid tight security in Mizoram

Over 58% of the 7.68 lakh Mizoram voters had their franchise in six hours to elect a new assembly on Wednesday, a poll official said.

“Little over 50 per cent of the 7,68,181 voters cast their votes by 1 pm,” said Chief Electoral Officer Ashish Kundra.

Long queues of colourful motley crowd were seen outside many polling booths in all districts well before the voting began at 7 am. With the polling process in the state being peaceful, police and other official sources in fact put the voting percentage around 62 till 2 pm.

Polling began in the state at 7 am amid tight security to elect a new Assembly and will continue till 4 pm. The Congress is striving for a third successive term against a stiff challenge from the Mizo National Front (MNF) headed by former Chief Minister Zoramthanga.

The fight is largely between the Congress and the Mizo National Front though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also seeking to make its presence felt.

The Congress has fielded 40 candidates while the BJP and MNF are contesting in 39 and 40 constituencies, respectively. Around 7.7 lakh voters will decide the fate of 209 candidates.

According to senior police officials, around 11,100 security personnel comprising central paramilitary and state security forces have been deployed to foil any attempt to create trouble during the polling.

In all 768,181 voters, including 393,685 women, would decide the electoral fate of the 209 candidates, of whom 15 are women. In 2013, only six women had contested and none were successful.