54.83% polling recorded in 6 LS seats in MP till 5 pm

At least 54.83 per cent of voters exercised their franchise till 5 pm in six constituencies in Madhya Pradesh in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday, an official said.

The polling began at 7 am and is going on peacefully in six Lok Sabha seats, the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anupam Rajan told PTI.

Till 5 pm, Hoshangabad recorded a voter turnout of 63.44 per cent, followed by Tikamgarh at 57.19 per cent, Satna at 57.18 per cent, Damoh at 53.66 per cent, Khajuraho at 52.91 per cent and Rewa at 45.02 per cent, he said.

The early voters include Union Minister Prahlad Patel in the Damoh Lok Sabha seat, which he represented in 2019, and Union Minister Virendra Kumar and his wife in the Tikamgarh seat.

Kumar is seeking a fourth term from Tikamgarh and is pitted against Congress' Pankaj Ahirwar.

Voting in the six seats will end at 6 pm, he said.

A total of 12,828 polling booths, including 1,136 run by women, have been set up for 1,1162,460 eligible voters, of whom 58,32,333 are men, 53,29,972 women and 155 from the third gender, the official said.

The highest number of 19 candidates are in the fray in Satna, while the lowest seven candidates were contesting in Tikamgarh.

There are 2,865 sensitive polling booths in the six constituencies spread over 47 assembly segments Madhya Pradesh.

Facilities such as water, medicines and shelter have been provided at all the polling booths, Rajan said.

As many as 223 flying squad teams and 240 static surveillance teams were keeping a close watch on the polling, he said.

State BJP chief V D Sharma is seeking a second term from the Khajuraho seat, where the opposition INDIA bloc is supporting former IAS officer R B Prajapati of the All India Forward Bloc against Sharma after Samajwadi Party candidate Meera Yadav's nomination was rejected.

In the 2014 general elections, Madhya Pradesh recorded a voter turnout of 61.57 per cent, which increased to 71.16 per cent in 2019.

In 2019, the BJP won in 28 of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, while the Congress could only bag the Chhindwara seat.

The third and fourth phases of Lok Sabha polls will be held on May 7 and 13.