Madhya Pradesh assembly elections: 'No firing...' MP Police rubbish claims shootout in Damini; 71% votes polled till 5 pm

The Election Commission has set up 64,626 polling stations, where voting will take place to elect representatives to the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly. A total of 5,60,58,521 persons are eligible to cast their votes. The figure includes 2,87,82,261 males, 2,71,99,586 females and 1,292 third gender persons. As many as 2,533 candidates including 2,280 males, 252 females and one third gender person -- are in the electoral fray.

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh will vote to decide the electoral fate of 2,533 candidates in 230 seats of the State Legislative Assembly. Candidates in the fray include political heavyweights Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his predecessor and rival Kamal Nath, in a two-corner contest between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress.

A voter turnout of 71.11 per cent was recorded till 5 pm with Agar Malwa recording the highest polling percentage of 82, ECI officials said. Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Ranjan said that the incident at Morena where one person died took place last night. It is a pre-poll incident and not related to elections, he said adding that an FIR would be filed after autopsy. Also, a minor fight broke out in Indore and a case has been registered but polling process was not affected, he added.

• 12 pm
  According to the data from the ECI, more than 28 per cent of the electorate have exercised their franchise till 11 am here across the state, where polling began on Friday morning for the 230-member assembly. Till 11am, 28.18 per cent of voters have cast their votes in the state, an official from the ECI said. Polling began at 7am in all 230 constituencies and it will continue from 6pm.
• 11.30 am
  MP Police said two persons were injured in a clash during voting in Dimani constituency. BJP candidate for this constituency is Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar.According to Morena Superintendent of Police (SP) Shailendra Singh, a clash between two groups was reported from Mirdhan village, as there were attempts to stop the denizens from casting their votes. The SP also dismissed it as rumours the reports claiming that there was a firing and subsequent bullet injuries in the village. He idenfied the injured as Ajay Sharma and Rampratap Sharma, in the scuffle, involving a stick fight.
• 10.45 am
  Stones were pelted between two groups at polling booths 147-148 of Dimani Assembly constituency, in Mirghan, Morena. One person was injured. According to DSP Vijay Singh Bhadoriya, the information on a scuffle between two sides was reported. He said that the people from both sides who indulged in the scuffle were removed. "One person got injured in his head. Situation is peaceful right now," he said, adding that there were claims of a shootout which is being verified.
• 10.23 am
  MP Home Minister Narottam Mishra said it will be celebration in Pakistan if the rivals win. The BJP leader, who is contesting from Datia constituency, said "Press the "Kamal" (Lotus) button and make BJP win. If another party wins, Pakistan will celebrate. Think about the country and vote for BJP."
• 9.58 am
  Former MP Chief Minister Uma Bharti appealed the people to come out and vote in large numbers for the BJP party. The BJP leader was speaking on MP and Chhattisgarh elections, from her Tikamgarh residence, "Today is the mega festival of democracy. People have all the rights in a democracy. I appeal to the people to come out and vote in large numbers for BJP...," ANI quoted her as saying.
• 9.45 am
  Polling is brisk in all 230 assembly constituencies in the state. According to a provisional trend posted by the ECI, the trend suggested a polling percentage of over 11 per cent. According to the trend, Gwalior and Tikambargh registered a poor turn out of around 5 per cent.
• 9.15 am
  Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan voted earlier in the day in his constituency. Chouhan, his wife Sadhna Singh, and two sons cast their votes in a polling station in the Budhni assembly seat in Sehore district, from where he is seeking reelection. Before heading to the polling booth, Chouhan offered prayers at a temple in the village.
• 8.50 am
  State Congress president Kamal Nath, his son and Lok Sabha MP Nakul Nath and daughter-in-law cast their votes at Shikarpur in the Sausar assembly seat of Chhindwara district, the home turf of the state Congress chief. Nath is seeking a reelection from the Chhindwara seat.
• 8.25 am
  As many as 5,60,58,521 voters, including 2,87,82,261 males, 2,71,99,586 females and 1,292 third gender persons, are eligible to exercise their franchise. The voters also include service and overseas electors.
• 8.15 am
  The Election Commission of India(ECI)'s state unit has set up 64,626 polling stations. Of this, 64,523 are main booths and 103 associate (sahayak) stations, where the number of voters is more than 1,500, according to the ECI.
• 7.55 am
  The single-phase voting will cover all the 230 assembly seats -- 47 of them reserved for Scheduled Tribes and 35 for Scheduled Castes -- has more than 5.6 crore registered electors.
• 7.30 am
  Polling is being held from 7 am to 6 pm in all the assembly segments except in Baihar, Lanjhi and Paraswada seats in Balaghat district, 55 booths in Mandla district's Bichhiya and Mandla seats and 40 polling stations of Dindori district, all Naxalite affected, where voting time is 7 am to 3 pm
• 7 am
  Polling begins in Madhya Pradesh.
• 6.45 am
  Mock poll was carried out 90 minutes before the voting began in the presence of authorised poll agents in all 64,626 polling stations set up by the Election Commission of India.