Bhopal: An estimated voter turnout of 64.71 per cent was recorded in the by-election to the Shahdol Lok Sabha constituency while 71.25 per cent voting was recorded in the by-poll to Nepanagar Assembly seat, in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday. The by-polls at the two places, both reserved for Scheduled Tribes category, assume significance as they were held after the Centre’s decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. In Shahdol Lok Sabha constituency, 62.71 per cent of the voters exercised franchise till 5 pm, an election official told. The constituency had recorded 62.2 per cent polling in the general election in 2014.
In Nepanagar, 71.25 per cent polling was recorded till 5 pm, the official said. No untoward incident was reported so far in both places. Voters initially stayed away in the areas covered by five polling booths in Shahdol to protest lack of development. They agreed to vote after officials spoke to them. As many as 17 candidates are in the fray in Shahdol, and four in Nepanagar.
While Congress has fielded Himadri Singh, daughter of former Union Minister Dalbir Singh, in Shahdol, BJP has given ticket to tribal leader Gyan Singh, a senior member in Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s cabinet. Himadri’s mother Rajesh Nandini Singh was also an MP.
The Shahdol bypoll was necessitated due to the death of BJP MP Dalpat Singh Paraste who had wrested the seat from Congress’s Rajesh Nandini Singh in 2014. Gyan Singh had won the Shahdol seat in 1996 and 1998.
In Nepanagar, Congress has reposed faith in tribal leader Antar Singh Barde, while BJP has fielded Manju Dadu, daughter of the late MLA Rajendra Shyamlal Dadu whose death in an accident necessitated the by-poll. Counting will take place on November 22.