42.47% polling recorded in MP

Bhopal, May 12 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh on Sunday recorded 42.47 per cent polling for eight of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies till 2 p.m., an official said.

Voting started at 7 a.m. and will end at 6 p.m.

As of 2 p.m., Morena recorded 38.43 per cent voting, Bhind 35.38, Gwalior 38.70, Guna 49.03, Sagar 4.27, Vidisha 48.76, Bhopal 40.69 and Rajgarh 4.30 per cent.

There were reports of clashes at a few polling booths in Bhind. The Election Commission then restricted a few Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress leaders from venturing out of their houses, Rao said.

More than 14,400,000 voters are eligible to decide the fate of 138 candidates, including 14 women. A total of 45,053 security personnel have been deployed in the state to ensure free and fair polling.

This phase will see a straight battle between the BJP and the Congress. The polls are a major challenge for the former as it had lost power in the state last year after 15 years.

The Bhopal constituency is the most keenly watched as former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh of the Congress is taking on Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur of the BJP, who is an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

In Guna, Jyotiraditya Scindia from the Congress is seeking another term. He has been representing this Lok Sabha seat in Parliament since 2002. He is up against K.P. Yadav from the BJP. Yadav was Scindia's aide till January 2018.

In Morena, which is the birthplace of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and a BJP stronghold, the party has fielded Narendra Singh Tomar against the Congress' Ram Niwas Rawat.

Sandhya Rai of the BJP is pitted against Devasish Jararia of the Congress in Bhind while Vivek Sejwalkar of the BJP is taking on Ashok Singh of the Congress in Gwalior.