MP by-polls: Nearly 45% voting recorded till 1 p.m.

An estimated 45 per cent of the 26,50,004 eligible voters cast their ballots till 1 p.m. in the by-polls to three Assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, the Election Commission said.
As per the official report, the highest voting so far was recorded at 54 per cent in Prithvipur, followed by Raigon with 44 per cent while Jobat registered 41 per cent.

In Khandwa (Lok Sabha seat), over 41 per cent voters turned up to cast their ballots. Meanwhile, people in three different areas in Khandwa district boycotted elections and put up banners at the entry gate of villages prohibiting the entry of political leaders. They refused to exercise their franchise with the slogan 'No work, No Vote'.

The voting to decide the fate of 48 candidates is underway at 3,944 polling stations, of which 865 are deemed as "sensitive" by the administration.

Jabat (Alirajpur district) and Prithvipur (Niwari district) seats fell vacant after the deaths of Congress MLAs Kalawati Bhuriya and Brijendra Singh Rathore respectively.

The by-poll in Raigon (Satna district) was necessitated after the death of BJP MLA Jugal Kishor Nagari due to age-related complications.

The Lok Sabha seat of Khandwa fell vacant following the death of BJP MP Nandkumar Chauhan due to Covid-related complications - IANS