Madhya Pradesh assembly polls: 74.61 per cent voter turnout recorded till 6 pm

Bhopal: Over 5 crore voters will vote to elect legislators for the 230-seats strong Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday.

A total of 65,367 booths have been deployed across the 52 districts of the state and votes will be cast on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) attached to Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines.

Around 17,000 polling stations have been categorised as critical, where peaceful polling will be ensured through heightened security measures such as webcasting, CCTV camera surveillance and a higher deployment of central security forces and micro observers.

The prime contest is likely to be between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress in 190-odd seats.

While 30-40 seats are likely to witness the presence of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Samajawadi Party (SP), the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) besides those contesting independently.

Chief electoral officer V Kantha Rao said voting will begin at 8 am and end at 5 pm.

Here are the updates from Madhya Pradesh Assembly election:

18:15 pm: 74.61 per cent voter turnout recorded till 6 pm in Madhya Pradesh. Voting is still underway.

03:20 pm: 50 per cent voter turnout recorded till 3 pm.

02:45 pm: 34.99 per cent voting recorded till 2 pm

01:42 pm: Kamal Nath, Congress on showing his election symbol after casting his vote in Chhindwara said, “I had already cast my vote. When the media asked me whom I have voted for, I showed this (palm). What else should I have done? Show a lotus?”

(Photo: ANI/Twitter)

12:20 pm: 21 per cent voting recorded till 11 am, reported ANI.

12:10 pm: "There have been many complaints of EVM's malfunctioning, have written to Election Commission. We have written to the Election Commission and requested that voting time in these polling booths should be extended to compensate for the delay," said Jyotiraditya Scindia.

11:25 am: 6.32 per cent voting recorded till 9 am, reported PTI.

11:20 am: BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on his way on a horse chariot to cast his vote in Indore.

(Photo: ANI/Twitter)

11:04 am: "I assure you that on 11th December, Congress will form the government with the blessings of the people," said Jyotiraditya Scindia after casting his vote at a polling booth in Gwalior.

(Photo: ANI/Twitter)

10:35 am: One Election Commission official in Guna, and two in Indore have passed away due to cardiac arrest. Election Commission announced Rs 10 lakh each compensation for the kin of the EC officials who passed away while on election duty.

10:10 am: A 101-year-old woman after casting her vote in Agar Malwa.

(Photo: ANI/Twitter)

09:48 am: Police seizes campaign material from BJP's polling agents from a polling booth in Saint Mary's, Bhopal as it was within 200 meters of a polling booth. One person was taken to custody.

09:27 am: Two faulty EVMs in Ujjain have been replaced, 11 VVPAT machines in Alirajpur, 5 VVPAT and 2 EVMs in Burhanpur also replaced.

09:24 am: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said, "We’re 100% certain that BJP will form a government with an absolute majority. We have set a target of 200 seats and our lakhs of volunteers are working to make it a reality."

(Photo: ANI/Twitter)

09:09 am: First-time voters after casting their votes at a polling booth in Bhopal

08:38 am: Madhya Pradesh Minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia casts her vote at a polling station in Shivpuri. She is up against Congress' Siddharth Lada.

08:37 am: Congress leader Kamal Nath casts his vote in Chhindwara

(Photo: ANI/Twitter)

08:33 am: EVM is not working at polling booth number 178 in Dabra, Gwalior district

08:11 am: Congress leader Kamal Nath offers prayers at a Hanuman temple in Chhindwara.

08:07 am: Voting for 230 assembly seats underway

08:00 am: Kamal Nath says, "I have full faith in the people of Madhya Pradesh, they are simple and innocent people who have been robbed for a long time by BJP."

(Photo: ANI/Twitter)

07:50 am: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan prays on the banks of Narmada river, in Budhni. Voting in the state is underway.

(Photo: ANI/Twitter)

07:25 am: Polling for 227 constituencies in the state will begin at 8 am, while voting for 3 constituencies has already begun.