Madhya Pradesh: 41% voting in Mungaoli bye-polls, 35% in Kolaras till 12.30 pm
Voting began in Mungaoli and Kolaras towns in Madhya Pradesh for the bye-polls scheduled on Saturday. The votes will be counted on February 28.
By 12.30 pm, 41% polling had been recorded in Mungaoli and 35% in Kolaras, PTI reported. The bye-elections were necessitated by the deaths of Congress MLAs Mahendra Singh Kalukheda from Mungaoli and Ram Singh Yadav from Kolaras.
The electronic voting machine at booth number 57 in Kolaras did not work in the morning, ANI said. A resident of the town told ANI that voting had not begun there due to the faulty machine, and that he had been standing in the queue for an hour.
“During a mock poll, 15 Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail machines in Kolaras and 17 in Mungaoli malfunctioned and were replaced,” Chief Election Officer Saleena Singh said. “Voting is currently continuing smoothly at all polling stations.”
While polling was largely peaceful, clashes were reported in the Digoda village between Congress and BJP workers, the Business Standard quoted an Election Commission official as saying.
Mungaoli and Kolaras are part of Madhya Pradesh Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia’s Guna constituency, NDTV said. Scindia has addressed over 75 rallies and participated in 15 road shows for these elections. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has also held 40 rallies and 10 road shows.
The Madhya Pradesh Police on Friday booked Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Shailendra Jain for campaigning in Mungaoli after the model code of conduct was imposed. Thursday was officially the last day of campaigning.
Assembly elections in the state are scheduled later this year. The ruling BJP has been in power since 2008.
