Madhya Pradesh records higher voting turnout than in 2013, Mizoram sees a dip in assembly elections

Madhya Pradesh saw an increase in the voter turnout, while there was a significant dip in the overall figures in Mizoram in the assembly elections in the two states on Wednesday. According to the Election Commission, in Madhya Pradesh, a record 75 per cent voters turned up at polling stations to exercise their franchise. In 2013, the polling percentage was 72.13 per cent. Mizoram recorded 75 per cent voter turnout which was 83.41 per cent in 2013.

In Madhya Pradesh, as many as 2,899 candidates, including 1,094 independents, are in the fray for 230 seats, but the main contest is between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The state has 5.04 crore eligible voters. Around 3,00,782 government employees, including 45,904 women, were on poll duty and 65,341 polling stations were set up.

Polling was held in all 40 assembly seats in the northeast state. The state had an electorate of 7,70,395, which included 3,94,897 female voters. There were 209 candidates, 15 of them women, in the fray.

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Of the 1,179 polling booths, 47 were classified 'critical' and as many as 'vulnerable' by the Election Commission.

The polling was marred by complaints of faulty Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVVPAT) machines. Rao said 1,145 EVMs and 1,545 VVPATs were replaced after complaints of technical snags.

In Naxal-affected Baihar district, the percentage was 75.05, in Lanjhi 79.07 per cent and in Paraswada it was 80.05 per cent.

In Mizoram, around 55 per cent of Bru voters in the six relief camps in Tripura came to Aizwal on Wednesday and exercised their franchise at the 15 special polling booths created for them after public outrage over their place of voting.

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There was an apprehension that voter turnout of Bru refugees would be very less as some of their leaders were initially reluctant to come to Mizoram and were demanding the earlier system of exercising their franchise at the relief camps.

(With PTI inputs)