Bhopal:

All preparations have been made in six constituencies in Madhya Pradesh for voting in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections to be held on Friday, an official said.

Of the 29 assembly constituencies in the BJP-ruled state, Shahdol, Mandla (all reserved for Scheduled Tribes), Jabalpur, Balaghat, Chhindwara and Sidhi will go to polls in the first phase. In total, these constituencies cover 13 constituencies and 27 parliamentary districts.

The state’s chief electoral officer Anupam Rajan told reporters today that polling will begin at 7 am and end at 6 pm in most places. Polling will be held from 7 am to 4 pm in Baihar, Ranji and Palaswada assembly areas of Naxal-affected Balaghat constituency due to security reasons, he added.

A total of 88 candidates (81 men and 7 women) are contesting in the six constituencies. Jabalpur has the highest number of 19 candidates in the race, while Shardold has the lowest number of 10 candidates.

Polling teams have started arriving at 13,588 polling stations. Rajan said women officials will be in charge of 1,118 polling stations.

The total number of registered voters in the six constituencies is 1,13,09,636 (57,20,780 males, 55,88,669 females and 187 persons of the third gender).

In view of the hot weather, arrangements have been made for shelter, water and ORS (oral rehydration solution) at the polling stations.

Rajan said a helicopter has been stationed in the Naxal-hit Balaghat area while an air ambulance will be provided in Jabalpur to deal with any eventuality.

Preventive action to maintain law and order has been taken against 49,334 people and 21,887 licensed weapons have been deposited with the police ahead of the polls.

As many as 192 flying squads and 233 static surveillance teams will be deployed in six constituencies.

Rajan said the Election Commission hopes to achieve maximum turnout at polling stations, adding that it aims to achieve 77.82 per cent turnout in the November 2023 assembly elections.

Madhya Pradesh polled 61.57% of the vote in the 2014 general election. In 2019, this ratio increased to 71.16.

The second, third and fourth phases of parliamentary elections will be held on April 26, May 7 and May 13.

In 2019, the BJP won 28 of the 29 Lok Sabha seats, while the Congress won only one seat – Chhindwara.

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