MP bypolls: Vijaypur records 54.86% turnout, Budhni 51.16% till 1 pm

Bhopal: The Vijaypur and Budhni assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh where bypolls are underway recorded voter turnouts of 54.86 per cent and 51.16 per cent, respectively, till 1 pm on Wednesday, an official said.

Polling began peacefully across all booths in the two constituencies at 7 am, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sukhveer Singh told PTI.

The bypoll to Vijaypur in Sheopur district was necessitated after sitting Congress MLA Ramniwas Rawat joined the BJP. Rawat, currently a minister in the Mohan Yadav cabinet, has been nominated by the BJP.

Rawat exercised his franchise at his ancestral village Sunvai.

The Budhni seat fell vacant after sitting MLA and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was elected to the Lok Sabha from Vidisha seat earlier this year and made Union agriculture minister.

BJP’s Budhni candidate and ex-CM Chouhan’s close aide Ramakant Bhargava voted in Shahganj town, an official said.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s son Kartikey Singh Chouhan was among the early voters in Budhni.

“I would like to urge everyone to participate in this festival of democracy,” Kartikey told reporters after getting his finger inked.

Budhni is pitted against Congress’ former state minister Rajkumar Patel.

In Vijaypur, state forest minister Ramniwas Rawat is contesting against Congress’ Mukesh Malhotra, a senior tribal leader.

The Vijaypur constituency has 2,54,817 registered electors, comprising 1,33,581 men, 1,21,131 women, and 103 service voters.

In Budhni, there are 2,76,604 voters, including 1,47,197 men, 1,33,401 women, and 195 service electors, as per a poll official.

There are 327 polling stations in Vijaypur and 363 in Budhni, the CEO earlier said.

A total of 2,760 poll officials and employees have been deployed to conduct the bypolls in both the assembly constituencies, he said.

Nearly 1,500 district police personnel and adequate numbers of Home Guards and Special Police Officers (SPOs) have been deployed for security, he added.