Lok Sabha elections: Voter turnout of 44.50% in Madhya Pradesh until 3pm
Voting in nine of 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh began with contenders like Kamal Nath in the fray
Bhopal: Voting in nine of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh began on Thursday with high-profile contenders like Union minister Kamal Nath in the fray.
Provisional voter turnout was 44.50% until 3pm.
The constituencies where polling is underway in the first phase are Chhindwara, Mandla (ST), Balaghat, Rewa, Sidhi, Satna, Jabalpur, Shahdol (ST) and Hoshangabad.
Besudes Kamal Nath, Prominent among those contesting in this phase are late Arjun Singh’s son Ajay Singh. While incumbent Nath is pitted against Choudhary Chandrabhan Singh of BJP in Chhindwara, MLA Ajay Singh is taking on sitting BJP MP Ganesh Singh from Satna seat.
Other key contestants include former Attorney-general of Madhya Pradesh, Vivek Tankha, who is in the race as a Congress nominee from Jabalpur constituency where he is battling sitting MP Rakesh Singh of the BJP.
Voting will be held at 16,592 polling stations across these nine seats with 118 candidates in the fray. In 2009 general elections, of these 9 seats, the BJP had won six seats and the Congress was victorious on three. Polling for the rest 20 constituencies in Madhya Pradesh will be held on 17 and 24 April.
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