Madhya Pradesh Live: 26% voting by noon as voters turn up in numbers

2.36 pm: Voters turn out in numbers to exercise franchise Madhya Pradesh saw brisk voting Monday with the Congress claiming it was poised to oust the BJP, which has ruled the sprawling state for 10 long years, officials said. Polling opened at 8 am across the state for a new 230-seat assembly barring three constituencies in Balaghat district, a Maoist hub where voting began an hour earlier. By noon, 26 percent of the 4.66 crore electorate had voted, the Election Commission said.  Braving a chilly morning, voters queued up at polling centres even before they opened. As the sun rose, the queues lengthened. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, contesting from his traditional Budhni constituency as well as from Vidisha, is confident of winning another five-year term. He told the media before voting in his village in Sehore district that his dream was to make Madhya Pradesh a developed state. Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath asserted that the Congress would win at least 140 seats “as people want to be free of the corrupt BJP regime”. The BJP ousted the Congress in 2003. In 2008, it retained power winning 143 seats. The Congress won 71. 12.15 pm: Assistant poll officer dies of heart attack hours ahead of polling An assistant poll official in Katni district’s Vijayraghogarh seat, KB Shrivastava, died of a heart attack early today, sources said. He suffered heart attack at around 5 am, following which he was rushed to a hospital. However he had died in hospital. The district returning officer has replaced him with a member of the reserve staff. Meanwhile PTI reported that About 18 percent of the electorate had exercised their franchise as of 11 am in the state. The polling in Naxal-affected Baihar, Paraswada and Lanjhi seat began at 7 am and will conclude at 3 pm, while in the remaining 227 seats it is being conducted as scheduled from 8 am to 5 pm, official sources said. 10.45 am: 15 percent voting in first two hours Madhya Pradesh has recorded 15 percent voting in the first two hours, reports CNN-IBN. As many as  4.6 crore (46 million) voters are eligible to exercise their right to franchise in the state. 10.15 am: Modi urges people to vote in large numbers BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has urged people in both Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram. Modi took to his Twitter feed to tell people to go out in large numbers and cast their votes.Earlier, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also took to the micro blogging site to tell people to be a part of the democratic process and ‘vote for progress’

  9.35 am: Will do everything to make MP a flourishing state, says Chouhan Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Leader of the Opposition in state Assembly Ajay Singh were among those who cast their votes early today in their respective constituencies of Budhni and Churhat. Speaking to reporters after casting his vote, Chouhan said, “I would request all the people of MP to vote for the BJP and bring it to power. I will do everything possible to make sure that MP becomes one of the most flourishing state in the country.” The BJP government led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan is fighting for an unprecedented third consecutive victory.

9.00 am: In MP, royal family members join the fray In at least two constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, members of royal families are in a keen contest as BJP candidates against strong contenders put up by the Congress. One of these constituencies is Shivpuri, where sitting MP Yashodhara Raje Scindia has agreed to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s wish that she contest state elections and join his Cabinet. Scindia is taking on Congress candidate Virendra Raghuvansi, whose campaign has been dominated by a pro-poor development agenda. The other constituency where a royal family member is contesting is Gwalior East, where Maya Singh, wife of late Vijayaraje Scindia’s brother is contesting. Called ‘mamiji’, Maya is pitted against Munnalal Goyal. In both constituencies, voters will be voting on whether a royal family member has been able to provide basic amenities. 8.40 am:  Top leaders get their fingers inked. Union Minister Kamal Nath casts his vote in the Shikarpur constituency in Madhya Pradesh, reports ANI.

Among those who also cast their vote: Congress candidate and former union minister Suresh Pachouri from Bhopal,  MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his wife Sadhna who cast their vote in Budhni. **7.40 am:**Voting has begun for 230 seats in 53,946 polling stations in Madhya Pradesh. Elections to the 230-seat Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly were expected to have centred largely around the development work undertaken by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of the BJP, but as the state goes to polls today, the focus is back, as it is elsewhere on the country’s political stage right now, on a clash of personalities, this time between the genial and well-liked Chouhan and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Congress party’s unofficial chief ministerial candidate. By all accounts, the BJP is expected to hold sway eventually, but not without losing some seats. The Congress, on the other hand, has found its election campaign crippled by the infighting – even declaring Scindia CM candidate in a state with such Congress bigwigs as former chief minister Digvijaya Singh has not been possible. [caption id=“attachment_124760” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The BJP is hoping for a third term for Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Reuters[/caption] The BJP is up for a hat-trick, but it is on Chouhan’s shoulders that several candidates including sitting MLAs are piggy-backing – Chouhan’s face has been used prominently acoss the state in election campaign material and the pitch hyas been to elect local BJP candidates to ensure a third term for Chouhan. A third term for Chouhan will bring him on par with Narendra Modi, currently the BJP’s only three-term CM. Some smaller parties are hoping to nothc up a few wins to play king-maker, including uusual suspects BSP and Samajwadi Party, both hoping to gain some new ground especially in districts bordering Uttar Pradesh. There is also the tribal Gondwana Ganatantra Party, but its strength stands eroded after. Voting starts for the 230 seats in 53,946 polling stations. The Association for Democratic Reforms analysed the affidavits of 1,045 candidates – 243 have criminal cases pending against them including murder, kidnap and crimes against women. These candidates with criminal charges include 97 from the Congress, 66 from the BJP and 58 from the BSP. Meanwhile, in Mizoram: Polls to the 40-member Mizoram Legislative Assembly are being held today where the ruling Congress and the Opposition Mizoram Democratic Alliance are in a close race. Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla is contesting from two seats – Serchhip and Hrangturzo while former CM Zoramthanga of the MNF is contesting from Tuipui East bordering Myanmar. The Election Commission said there are 1,126 polling stations in Mizoram, where the stand-out factor this election will be the first-ever use of the Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). This is a machine attached to EVMs allowing voters to check if the vote is registered as they had intended. While the VVPAT was used in a byelection in Nagaland in September, this is the first time that it will be used state-wide in an Assembly election.