Bhopal: Beating the heat, the voters in eight Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh recorded close to 62 per cent polling, while is almost similar to that of previous elections held in 2014. However, in the State assembly segments, the polling was recorded at highest levels. Still the polling booths across the state including those in Bhopal saw long queues after 6 pm and the poll officers claimed the poll percentage could be revised once the final figures were received.
The above par polling percentage was witnessed at almost all the seats that went to polls on Sunday. Bhopal, which is centre of attraction for 2019 lok sabha polls with the presence of Digvijay Singh and BJP’s Pragya Thakur, also saw an upward swing in the polling.
As against 57.79 per cent polling in the Bhopal Lok seat which also includes Sehore in 2014, recorded around 62 per cent polling by 6pm on Sunday. Congress’ Digvijay Singh who had carried on the campaign alone also remained active since morning and even was present at one of the polling in Old city booths after 6pm, meeting voters and allowing them to click selfies.
Singh was so engrossed in the process in Bhopal that he sacrificed his vote at Rajgarh, his hometown, that also went to polls on Sunday. Seemingly exhausted after a gruelling lok sabha campaign, Singh exuded confidence of a win.
Asked to comment on BJP candidate Pragya Thakur, he offered his tailor-made reply that he would speak after May 23 (when the results are out). The voting percentage in Bhopal parliamentary seat was more than the same witnessed in assembly polls barring Govindpura which saw a dip of almost 8-10 % in voting and rural assembly seat –Berasia which was almost at par with December 2018 voting.
Barring tense moments in Bhind, Morena and Bhopal, the polling was by and large peaceful, said Chief Electoral Officer MP VL Kantha Rao. The incidents were connected to EVM snags, crowd gathering at polling booths and poll agents suspecting bogus voting, said the officer.
Three villages in Bhind—Nadedi, Datawal and Surajpur while Semlikakod in Rajgarh district saw voters boycotting the polling in the morning but polling started after the intervention from the poll officers, said Rao. On reports of presiding officers turning away voters sans voter cards, Rao clarified the election commission had allowed 12 documents which could be used for voting and promised to look into specific complaints.
Besides Bhopal, Guna (66.41), Rajgarh (69.34), Bhind (53.09), Morena (54.36), Sagar (64.92) and Vidisha (67.51) seats also went to polls in the third phase in MP on Sunday. Most of these seats recorded four to 6 % more polling that it was recorded in 2014.