What does 1.52% higher voter turnout in MP assembly polls mean?

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh assembly polls have recorded a voter turnout of 77.15 per cent, which is 1.52 per cent higher than in 2018, as per the latest data released by the Election Commission of India.

Polling for all the 230 assembly seats in the state was held in a single phase on November 17.

According to the latest provisional poll data for Madhya Pradesh released by the ECI on Saturday night, the state recorded a voter turnout of 77.15 per cent.

Out of the total male voters in MP, 78.21 per cent exercised their franchise, while out of the total eligible females, 76.03 per cent turned up to vote.

Sailana assembly seat in Ratlam district recorded the highest voter turnout at 90.10 per cent, while Jobat seat in Alirajpur district in the state's western region saw the lowest turnout of 54.37 per cent, as per the data.

The voter turnout percentage over the past few elections has been on the rise in the state. It was 67.25 per cent in 2003, 69.78 per cent in 2008, 72.13 per cent in 2013 and 75.63 per cent in 2018.

In 2018, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received 41.02 per cent votes, the Congress 40.89 per cent, and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and other parties got 10.83 per cent votes.

Even after getting more vote share than the Congress, the BJP won 109 seats in 2018 compared to 114 bagged by the grand old party. The remaining seats went to the BSP (2), Samajwadi Party (1) and independents (4).

The Congress had then formed government with the help of the BSP, SP and independents under the leadership of Kamal Nath.

However, the Kamal Nath led government collapsed in March 2020 after a rebellion by Jyotiraditya Scindia and MLAs loyal to him, paving the way for return of the BJP government headed by Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

In the state elections held on Friday, the fate of 2,533 candidates, including CM Chouhan of the BJP and his predecessor and state Congress chief Kamal Nath, has been sealed in the Electronic Voting Machines.

A total of 64,626 polling stations were set up in the state.

Votes will be counted on December 3.