Bhopal, Nov 28 (IANS) Twenty six per cent polling was recorded in the first five hours in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday in the elections to choose a new assembly.
A spokesperson in the Chief Electoral Officer's office said about 26 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the first five hours (8 a.m. to 1 p.m.).
Earlier in the day, CEO V.L. Kantha Rao said that complaints of faulty EVMs and VVPATs were received from over 100 election booths and these were replaced within the first hour.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan voted with his family in Jait village in Bhudni constituency. He is contesting against Congress' Arun Yadav.
After voting, Chauhan said, "I am hopeful that the BJP will win the election with a huge mandate."
Appealing to the people of the state to vote in huge numbers, the Chief Minister said, "This vote is not for making a person an MLA but for the good future and development of the state. The way in which I have cast my vote along with my family, I would request people of the state to vote for the BJP for the development."
He said that every person's vote would ensure women empowerment and development, will make the villages smart, change the faces of cities, will help in bringing investment, providing good infrastructure, and improving irrigation -- from 40 lakh hectares to 80 lakh hectares.
In Ujjain, two faulty electronic voting machines (EVMs) and 11 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines were replaced by the Election Commission officials. In Bhuranpur constituency, five VVPATs and two faulty EVMs were replaced by 9 a.m.
Taking note of the faulty EVMs, senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who also cast his vote in Gwalior, tweeted, "There have been reports of the faulty EVMs from across the state. In democracy, vote is the voice of the people -- it is worrying that an effort is being made to suppress it. I request the Election Commission to immediately take notice of this and ensure that the polling takes place in a fair manner without any hurdles."
State Congress chief Kamal Nath also cast his vote after a temple visit along with his family at a polling booth in Chhindwara.
Reports of clashes and violence were reported from a few election booths of Bhind district.
Polling began at 7 a.m. in three Maoist-affected constituencies in Balaghat district, while votes were cast for the remaining 227 assembly seats starting 8 a.m.
Polling would end in the three constituencies -- Baihar, Lanji and Paraswada -- at 3 p.m, while it would continue till 5 p.m. in all the other constituencies.
The contest is mainly between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, though the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) are also in the fray.
There are 2,907 candidates in Madhya Pradesh. The BJP has fielded candidates for all the seats, while the Congress is contesting for 229 seats leaving one seat, Jatara in Tikamgarh district, for Sharad Yadav-led Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD).
The BSP has fielded 227 candidates and the SP is contesting for 51 seats. There are 1,102 Independent candidates.
In the last elections, the BJP won 165, Congress 58, BSP four and Independents three.
There are over five crore registered voters in the state -- 2,63,01,300 men, 2,41,30,390 women and 1,389 of the third gender.
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