BHOPAL: Polling has begun for the six seats in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh on Monday amid soaring day time temperatures spanning between 42 and 45 degree Celsius.
Three polling staff died due to brain hemorrhage and heart attack in separate constituencies ahead of Monday’s polling on Sidhi, Shahdol, Balaghat, Jabalpur, Mandla and Chhindwara Lok Sabha seats and by-election to Chhindwara assembly seat.
A 42-year-old government school peon Amit Pancheshwar died due to brain hemorrhage in Seoni district on Sunday, while the polling party was readying to leave for duty in Lakhnadaun assembly segment of Mandla constituency. He started vomiting before getting unconscious and before doctors could rush to attend him, Pancheshwar died.
In the adjoining, Chhindwara constituency, woman poll staffer, Sunanda Kotekar died due to heart attack on Sunday evening, while in Sidhi LS constituency, a middle-aged assistant sub inspector of police (ASI) Gappu Yadav died due to heart attack while on poll duty. Yadav was posted as ASI at Hatod police station of Indore district.
Meanwhile, 21.67% polling was reported on the six LS seats till 11 am, with Shahdol reporting maximum turnout of 29.62%, Chhindwara (24.45%) Jabalpur (22.64%), Balaghat (20.85%), Mandla (19.59%) and Sidhi (14.46%).
In Chhindwara, while CM Kamal Nath is contesting the assembly by-poll from Chhindwara seat, while his son Nakul Nath is the Congress candidate from Chhindwara LS seat, which has been won by father nine times in the past and once by mother Alka Nath.
According to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO-MP) VL Kantha Rao, 57 ballot units (BUs), 56 control units (CUs) and 147 VVPATs were replaced following technical snags detected during mock poll, an hour before actual polling started on 13,491 polling centers in the state.
In naxal affected Balaghat constituency, a case was registered by police against unidentified men following complaint by ex-MLA and independent candidate Kishor Samrite about his vehicle having been set ablaze by armed naxals early on Monday in Lanji area, IG-Law and Order and state police nodal officer for elections Yogesh Chaudhary said.
Samrite, who is having police security since two years in view of naxal threat to him, however, remained unscathed in the alleged naxal related incident.