Ram Murthi, the 95
years’ old man who showed up for voting, exhorted fellow natives to “do their
duty and cast their votes”. Polling for all 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh
commenced at 7 am on Friday. A large number of voters turned out to keep their
date with democracy.
The voters can
cast their ballots until 6 pm, with the exception of Baihar, Lanji, and
Parswara assembly seats of Balaghat district and some booths in Mandla and
Dindori districts, where voting will be held until 3 pm.
People queued up
outside polling stations to exercise their franchise and decide the fates of
2,533 candidates.
“The Election
Commission has made good arrangements for senior citizens as well. I came here
to cast my vote as I felt I was in good shape and wanted to vote my choice,” he
said.
Chahat Singhal, a
first-time voter who came to exercise her franchise, also lauded the
arrangements at her designated polling booth. “This is my first vote. Though
the polling began at 7 am, I got here at 6 am,” she said.
Nearly 5.59 crore
voters are eligible to exercise their franchise. It includes 2.87 crore male
and 2.71 crore women voters.
There are over
5,000 booths run by women and 183 polling stations run by the disabled,
officials said.
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi extended his greetings to first-time voters in Madhya Pradesh
where polling is underway for the 230-member Assembly on Friday.
Taking to his
official handle on X, PM Modi posted, “I am confident that voters from every
region of the state (Madhya Pradesh) will vote enthusiastically to mark this
great festival of democracy. My special greetings to all the youth of the state
who are voting for the first time in this election.”
The Election Commission also came up with a
vote-from-home facility for the disabled and elderly persons above 80 years of
age.
“A total of 2,510 eligible voters of above 80 years
and with disability opted the option to exercise their franchise from home,” said
district election officer and Bhopal collector Ashish Singh.
BJP is seeking to retain power in the state where it
has ruled for almost 18 of the past 20 years and Congress is keen to oust the
Shivraj Singh Chouhan Government.
Webcasting has been made available at about 42,000
polling stations. Nearly 700 companies of the central forces and two lakh
police personnel of the state have been deployed for security during the poll.
BJP has been in power in the state since 2003, except
for a nearly 15-month period in between. Madhya Pradesh will vote for all its
230 seats in a single phase and the counting of votes, with four other states,
will be taken up on December 3.
ANI
