BJP eyes a 4th term in record turnout, resurgent Congress claims it will stage a comeback
Throwing out of gear pre-poll predictions, Election officials on Wednesday announced record voting trends from rural areas, as curtains came down on a keenly-fought contest for the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly.
Speaking to the media here, Chief Election Officer VL Kantha Rao confirmed a record 74.61 per cent voting in the state without ruling out a further two per cent increase in the final statistics.
Amid reports of minor skirmishes, some doubts over Electronic Voter Machines (EVMs) and discrepancies in voter lists in some areas, the poll official said the election remained largely peaceful and ruled out possibilities of a re-poll in any of the constituencies.
While brisk polling was reported from rural areas, urban voters, vote statistics suggest, remained unmoved by the high-voltage poll rhetoric that had reverberated through Madhya Pradesh since the onset of the election season.
Congress state president Kamal Nath expressed satisfaction over the poll statistics and said the high turnout is in favour of the Congress.
Incidentally, voter turnout in 2013 Assembly polls was recorded at 72.07 per cent, an increase of nearly three percentage points over the 69.28 recorded in 2008.
The BJP, helmed by incumbent Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has ruled in Madhya Pradesh since 2003 and the main Opposition Congress is counting on long-term anti-incumbency to wrest control of a state which was once considered its political backyard.
Refraining from predictions at this juncture, poll pundits in the state capital maintained that at least some part of the upward swing in voter turnout may be attributed to the push provided by the Election Commission which had set a target of 80 per cent voting in the state.
The analysts, though, divided in their opinion of the emerging political scenario, agree that the December 11 results for the election may see the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) alter equations in several constituencies.
Meanwhile, three election officials, including one each in Dhar, Indore and Guna, died of cardiac arrest at their respective polling booths. A compensation of Rs 10 lakh has been announced for the next of kin. A total of 2,907 candidates, including 250 women and 35 transgenders, participated in the poll-battle, fought in 65,367 voting booths spanning 230 Assembly segments.
Poll activity in Maoist-affected Assembly segments of Lanji, Baihar and Paraswada commenced at 7 am and concluded at 3 pm. Voting in most of the remaining 227 assembly constituencies took place between 8 am and 5 pm.
At a time when even the most politically astute are refraining from predictions and the record-setting poll statistics reflecting a political maturity that this once backward state has attained, the day belonged to poll officials who ensured that Madhya Pradesh remained calm on the day of voting.
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