Campaign Ends for 2nd Phase LS Elections in MP, C’garh

Bhopal: Campaigning for the second phase of polling in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, scheduled to be held on April 26, ended on Wednesday.

While seven LS seats are going to polls in the second phase of elections in Madhya Pradesh, three LS constituencies in Chhattisgarh are going to elections in the second phase of polling.

The LS seats that are going to polls in the second phase in Madhya Pradesh are Khajuraho, Tikamgarh, Damoh, Satna, Rewa, Hoshangabad, and Betul.

In Khajuraho, state BJP president Vishnu Dutt Sharma is seeking re-election.

The INDIA bloc had fielded Meera Yadav of Samajwadi Party (SP) to take on Mr Sharma in the seat.

However, her nomination was rejected after scrutiny.

The INDIA bloc has declared its support to All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) candidate R D Prajapati, a retired IAS officer, following rejection of nomination of the SP candidate in the seat.

Elections were held in six LS constituencies including Chhindwara, Sidhi, Shahdol, Jabalpur, Mandla, and Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh in the first phase of polling on April 19.

A voter turnout of 67.75 percent was recorded across the six LS constituencies that went to polls on April 19 which was 7.32 percent less than the voter turnout recorded in these six seats in the 2019 LS polls.

BJP had won 28 out of 29 LS seats in Madhya Pradesh in 2019 polls.

In Chhattisgarh, three LS constituencies, Rajnandgaon, Mahasamund, and Kanker (ST), are going to polls in the second phase of polling on April 26.

All eyes are on the Rajnandgaon seat where former chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel is seeking election in the poll.

Mr Baghel is a sitting MLA from Patan in Chhattisgarh.

In the first phase of polling in Chhattisgarh, only one LS seat, Bastar (ST), went to the polls.

BJP had won nine out of 11 LS seats in Chhattisgarh in the 2019 polls.