Polling ends in MP & Chhattisgarh, EC releases voter turnout figures

Voting for all 230 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh ended at 6.00 pm on Friday, though those still in queue would be allowed to exercise their franchise, an official said.

A total of 70 assembly seats in neighbouring Chhattisgarh also went to polls in the second and final phase of voting on Friday. Polling for the second phase began on Friday morning, covering the remaining 70 seats of the 90-member assembly. With over 18,800 polling stations designated for this phase, a total of 958 candidates are in the fray.

A total of 2,533 candidates are in the fray in MP, among them heavyweights like chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Congress state unit president Kamal Nath, as well as several Union ministers and Lok Sabha MPs.

"Though voting ended at 6pm, it will continue for some more time for people who are still in queue," the election official said.

Polling was held from 7.00 am to 6.00 pm in all assembly segments except Baihar, Lanjhi and Paraswada seats in Balaghat district, 55 booths in Mandla district's Bichhiya and Mandla seats, and 40 polling stations in Dindori district, all of which are Naxalite affected. The voting time in these booths was between 7.00 am and 3.00 pm, the official said.

Assembly polls were held in a single phase on Friday, while results will be declared on 3 December. Of the 230 seats in MP, 47 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and 35 for Scheduled Castes. The state has more than 5.6 crore eligible voters, the official added.

The Election Commission (EC) said on Friday that the tentative voter turnout until 5 pm was 67.34 per cent in Chhattisgarh and 71.11 per cent in Madhya Pradesh.

The voting percentage is likely to "go upward" when reports from all polling stations, including those in the interiors, are obtained, the poll panel said.

Voters reaching polling stations until the end of the polling hours are allowed to exercise their franchise, the EC noted, adding that the final figures will be known by Saturday after a scrutiny of the polling-related documents.