58.35 pc voter turnout recorded in six LS seats of Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal, Apr 26 (PTI) Six Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh recorded a voter turnout of 58.35 per cent in the second phase of general elections on Friday, an official said.
"The voter turnout in the previous Lok Sabha election was 67 per cent, which is 58.35 per cent this time. It will go up by about one per cent," the state's Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Rajan told reporters.
Among the six constituencies, Hoshangabad recorded the highest turnout of 67.16 per cent, followed by Satna 61.87, Tikamgarh 59.79, Khajuraho 56.44, Damoh 56.18 per cent and Rewa 48.67, he said.
Replying to a query, Rajan said it was true that the polling percentage was less in all the states where polls was held.
"We have made efforts to enhance the voting percentage, but the turnout nonetheless remained less. We are continuously making efforts to raise it by carrying out campaigns on the issue, including through the media," he said.
When asked whether there were any incidents of electronic voting machines (EVMs) malfunctioning, he said wherever any complaint was received, corrective steps were taken immediately.
The early voters included Union minister Prahlad Patel in Damoh Lok Sabha seat, which he represented in 2019, and Union minister Virendra Kumar and his wife in Tikamgarh LS seat that he represented three times and seeking a fourth term.
Voting in these six seats that began at 7 am ended at 6 pm, the official said.
A total of 12,828 polling booths, including 1,136 run by women, were set up for 1,1162,460 eligible voters, of whom 58,32,333 were men, 53,29,972 women and 155 from the third gender category, the official said.
There were 2,865 sensitive polling booths in the six constituencies that are spread over 47 assembly segments in the state.
Facilities like water, medicines and shelter were provided at all the polling booths, the official said.
The maximum number of 19 candidates were in the fray in Satna, while the lowest were in Tikamgarh where seven contested.
Union minister Virendra Kumar is seeking a fourth straight term from Tikamgarh. He is taking on Congress candidate Pankaj Ahirwar.
State BJP chief V D Sharma is seeking a second term from the Khajuraho seat.
The opposition INDIA bloc is supporting former IAS officer R B Prajapati of All India Forward Bloc against Sharma after Samajwadi Party candidate Meera Yadav's nomination was rejected.
Altogether, 223 flying squad teams and 240 static surveillance teams kept a close watch on the polling, the official said.
The third and fourth phases of Lok Sabha polls will be held on May 7 and 13.
In the 2014 general elections, a voter turnout of 61.57 per cent was recorded in MP, which increased by 10 per cent to 71.16 per cent in 2019.
In 2019, the BJP won in 28 of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, while the Congress could only bag the Chhindwara seat.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)