Madhya Pradesh registered a record 74.61% turnout in the Assembly election on Wednesday. The figure is likely to go up after the final tally, officials said.
The previous record of 72.69% was set in the 2013 election.
Chief Electoral Officer V.L. Kantha Rao told presspersons that 1,145 electronic voting machines (EVMs) and 1,545 VVPAT (voter-verified paper audit trail) devices were replaced as they developed snags. About 2.5% of the machines were replaced, Mr. Rao said adding that it was around 2% in other States where elections were held recently.
Voters turned out in large numbers in the three constituencies in Naxal-affected Balaghat district with the tally being 75.05% in Baihar, 79.07% in Lanjhi and 80.05% in Paraswada, officials said. In the affected areas of Lanji, Paraswada and Baihar, the voting time was between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. instead of the usual 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, seeking a fourth term, and his wife, Sadhana Singh, voted at his village of Jait, part of the Budhni constituency, where he is the BJP candidate.
Those who were in the queue were allowed to vote beyond 5 p.m., Mr. Rao said. “There was no demand for re-polling. Poll officials received 386 complaints, which were resolved,” he said.
Three polling officials died of “health reasons” in Dhar, Indore and Guna districts, he said.
At Gadhpura village in Bhind district, a person was injured in violence not related to polls, he said. The violence broke out “far from the booth” over enmity between two groups, he added.
EVMs in hotel
On reports that some EVMs were found in a hotel, Mr. Rao said, “We got information that a sector officer in Shujalpur was staying in a hotel along with ballot machines. On getting information, a team of officers reached the hotel and seized the machine. The officer was removed [from poll duty] and the polling team was sent along with a new sector officer.”
Congress complaint
Leaders of the Congress, which is in a straight fight with the BJP, said the EVMs malfunctioned at many places.
“There were several complaints that EVMs at many places malfunctioned. We had requested the Election Commission that voting time in these polling booths should be extended to compensate for the delay,” Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said. The commission should compensate for time wasted in replacing the EVMs by extending the polling time, the Guna MP said.
Congress State president Kamal Nath said there were reports from across the State that the EVMs did not work at many places. “This affected polling. Long queues were witnessed,” he said.
Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat said in Delhi that local officers should take a call on extending the polling time.
The State has 5.04 crore voters. Altogether, 3,00,782 government employees were on poll duty and 65,341 polling stations were set up for polling, which was peaceful, Mr. Rao said.
