Madhya Pradesh elections: Polling begins for 230 seats; 2,533 candidates in fray

Top leaders criss-crossed the state addressing rallies, holding road shows, trading charges and making a slew of promises to seek votes for their candidates.

Voters show their identification cards as they wait in a queue at a polling station to cast their votes for the Madhya Pradesh. (Photo |PTI)

Polling began Friday morning for assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, where 2,533 candidates, including Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his predecessor Kamal Nath, are in the fray for 230 assembly seats in a largely straight contest between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress.

Voter turnout:  45.4 per cent till 1 pm

An aide of a Congress candidate was killed after two groups fought in the Rajnagar constituency of Madhya Pradesh and a few clashes were reported in other parts of the state, where assembly elections are being held on Friday, officials said.

Top leaders crisscrossed the state, addressing rallies, holding road shows, trading charges, and making a slew of promises to seek votes for their candidates.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is contesting from Budhni and state Congress president Kamal Nath from Chhindwara.

The electioneering saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, Union Minister Rajnath Singh, and Chouhan, among others, address rallies to drum up support for the saffron party nominees.

#WATCH | On being asked about the CM face, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan says "This is not important to me. Our party makes the decision on who has to work where. We don't think about ourselves, our mission is to work for the development of the country and Madhya… pic.twitter.com/DVQ9ZaItGN

— ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2023

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra, Nath, and Digvijaya Singh, among others, addressed rallies to seek support for their party nominees.

Modi made nine visits to the state and addressed 14 public meetings after the elections were announced. The BJP is heavily banking on his charisma to retain power.

#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh Elections | State Congress president and party's candidate from Chhindwara, Kamal Nath says, "I have faith in the entire state that they will side with the truth. I trust the public, the voters. I am not Shivraj Singh that I will say that we will win these… pic.twitter.com/HtzQ2Ql0OR

— ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2023

A look at the constituency:

• The single-phase voting covering all 230 assembly seats—47 of them reserved for Scheduled Tribes and 35 for Scheduled Castes—has more than 5.6 crore registered electors.
• Inputs from ground zero suggest that the Gwalior-Chambal, Vindhya, and Bundelkhand regions may ultimately hold the key to who comes to power, despite the communally sensitive Malwa-Nimar region housing a maximum of 66 seats.
• Opinion polls in the recent past have been predicting a close race between both the main players (with an edge to the Congress).
• In 2018, Congress emerged as the largest party, winning 114 seats and forming the government with the support of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP).

MP Assembly Polls: Union minister and BJP candidate Prahlad Singh Patel exercises his franchise at polling booth in Narsinghpur town of MP. @NewIndianXpress @TheMornStandard @santwana99 @Shahid_Faridi_ pic.twitter.com/4zLbKKHnQg

— Anuraag Singh (@anuraag_niebpl) November 17, 2023

​Two persons were injured in a clash on Friday during voting in Madhya Pradesh's Dimani constituency where the Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar is contesting, an official said.

Morena Superintendent of Police (SP) Shailendra Singh said that a clash between two groups was reported from Mirdhan village over attempts to stop voters from casting their ballots.