MP Assembly polls: Campaigning ends, 65,000 polling booths to be set up

Bhopal: For Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, 65,000 polling booths will be set up, including 2,000 booths that would be entirely operated by women, Chief Electoral Officer, Madhya Pradesh, VL Kantha Rao announced on Monday.

"Three lakh government employees, including 45,000 women, have been deployed on polling duty. 65,000 polling booths are being made in the state. Around 2,000 entirely women-only polling booths would be functional. 160 polling booths will be fully operated by differently-abled personnel," he informed.

Rao also announced that silence period for Madhya Pradesh had begun, prohibiting all forms of campaigning in the state.

"With only 48 hours remaining from the end of polling, the silence period has begun for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections and all campaigning is prohibited now onwards. Any advertisement on print, electronic media or social media is prohibited. Campaigning through phone calls or messaging services is also prohibited."

Rao further informed that special arrangements have been made for visually impaired people to help them cast their vote.

"Apart from the 3 lakh employees from state, 12,000 Central Government Employees will be working as micro-observers at different places. For the convenience of visually impaired voters, the commission has issued Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) with Braille inscription".

Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections will take place on November 28 to elect members of the 230 constituencies in the state. The result of the polls will be declared on December 11.

The election will be considered as a direct political battle between the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and the Congress. While the incumbent Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan government will try to win the post for the consecutive fourth term, the Congress will fight for winning the state after 2003.

In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP won 166 seats in the House in 2013 and elected Chouhan as the Chief Minister. The Congress and BSP bagged 58 and 4 seats respectively. Three Independent MLAs also won the polls.

The tenure of 230-member House expires on January 7, 2019.