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Voting is currently underway for the by-elections to the Budhni and Vijaypur assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, with electors casting their votes since 7 am on Wednesday, as confirmed by a senior election official.
Madhya Pradesh's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sukhveer Singh told ANI that the polling process has started smoothly across all booths in the two constituencies. "Polling began in a peaceful manner across all booths in the two constituencies from 7 am," Singh said.
The bypoll for the Vijaypur seat in Sheopur district was triggered by the defection of sitting Congress MLA Ramniwas Rawat, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and was appointed as a minister in Chief Minister Mohan Yadav's cabinet. In Budhni, the bypoll became necessary after the resignation of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the former Chief Minister, who was elected to the Lok Sabha.
For the Budhni seat, the BJP has fielded Ramakant Bhargava, a former Vidisha MP and a close ally of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who will contest against Congress' former state minister Rajkumar Patel. In Vijaypur, the contest sees BJP's Ramniwas Rawat, the state's Forest Minister, facing off against Congress' Mukesh Malhotra, a prominent senior tribal leader.
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According to the Election Commission, Vijaypur constituency has 2,54,817 registered voters, which include 1,33,581 men and 1,21,131 women, along with 103 service voters. The Budhni constituency, on the other hand, has 2,76,604 voters, comprising 1,47,197 men, 1,33,401 women, and 195 service voters.
There are 327 polling stations set up for Vijaypur, while Budhni has 363 polling stations. A total of 2,760 poll officials and employees have been deployed for the smooth conduct of the elections in both constituencies. Additionally, to ensure security during the bypolls, 1,500 district police personnel, along with adequate numbers of Home Guards and Special Police Officers (SPOs), have been stationed across the areas.
The by-elections are expected to be a key test for both the BJP and Congress in the state, as the results will offer insights into the political dynamics ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections. As per PTI, the peaceful conduct of voting is a promising sign for a fair election process.
(With inputs from PTI)
