Madhya Pradesh assembly elections highlights: Over 71% voter turnout recorded till 5 pm

Senior Congress leader and party candidate Kamal Nath said there is excitement among voters in the state, while alleging the BJP of distributing liquor and money to woo voters. , "The BJP has police, money, and administration at its disposal for a few more hours. Yesterday, I received several phone calls and also a video clip that shows liquor and money being distributed to lure voters," he told ANI.

Violence reported at polling booths 147-148 of Dimani Assembly constituency, in Mirghan, Morena when stone pelting ensued between two sides. One person injured in stone pelting. The situation is now under control.

"Information was received this morning that a scuffle broke out between two sides and a stone pelting has ensued. Police reached here and both sides were removed from there. One person got injured in his head. Situation is peaceful right now. A few villagers also complained about a shootout but it has not been verified," senior police official said.

Three Union ministers and four Lok Sabha MPs have been fielded in the Madhya Pradesh polls by the BJP:

Union ministers:

1. Narendra Singh Tomar
2. Prahlad Singh Patel
3. Faggan Singh Kulaste

Lok Sabha MPs:

1. Rakesh Singh
2. Ganesh Singh
3. Riti Pathak
4. Uday Pratap Singh

Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan casts his vote in Sehore. Both the CM and his wife Sadhna Singh greeted by women in Sehore.

As Madhya Pradesh goes to polls today, candidates from BJP head to religious places to offer prayers.

1. Union minister and BJP candidate from Narshinghpur Prahlad Patel and his wife offer prayers at Narsinghpur
2. BJP candidate from Indore-1, Kailash Vijayvargiya offers prayers at a temple in Indore
3. Chief Minister and BJP candidate from Budhni, Shivraj Singh Chouhan offers prayers at a temple in Sehore
4. Madhya Pradesh Higher Education Minister Mohan Yadav offers prayers in Ujjain before casting his vote

"The Congress candidates did nothing in 35 years. In any of the public meetings held by Digvijaya Singh, Kamal Nath and Priyanka Gandhi, none of them talked about development in Datia. Even the candidate of Congress didn't talk about development...All of our speakers talked about development...I would like to appeal to people to press the button of BJP," state home minister and BJP candidate Narottam Mishra told reporters.

State Home Minister and BJP candidate from Datia Narottam Mishra casts his vote at a polling booth in Datia.

BJP candidate from Indore-1, Kailash Vijayvargiya and his wife Asha Vijayvargiya cast their vote at a polling booth in Indore.

"There is immense excitement among people everywhere. I am getting love from Ladli Behna, children, youth and the elderly in the state," CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan said ahead of casting his vote.

"I have faith in the entire state that they will side with the truth. I trust the public, the voters. I am not Shivraj Singh that I will say that we will win these many or that many seats. Public will decide the number of seats," Congress leader and candidate Kamal Nath said. He then went on and casted his vote in Chhindwara, his home turf.

The BJP made several promises to people of Madhya Pradesh with key focus on farmers and women. Their manifesto includes:

1. Concrete homes for Ladli Behna beneficiaries
2. Hike in financial assistance under the Ladli Laxmi scheme
3. Free education to girls from below poverty line (BPL) families
4. LPG cylinders at ₹450 to Ladli Behna Yojana and Ujjwala beneficiaries
5. Opening new medical and engineering colleges and welfare board for gig workers
6. Increase the support price of wheat to ₹2,700 and paddy to ₹3,100 per quintal
7. Cheaper electricity for 100 units and special budgetary provisions for tribal areas

Congress made a number of promises to people of Madhya Pradesh ensuring benefits for almost every section of the society. They are:

1. Old Pension Scheme
2. Caste census
3. Nari Samman Nidhi of ₹1500 per month to women
4. ₹25 lakh health insurance for residents of the state
5. 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in government services
6. Jai Kisan Agricultural Loan Waiver Scheme to waive off farmers' debt up to ₹2 lakh
7. Providing domestic gas cylinders at ₹500
8. Making school education free in the state
9. Filling vacancies pending for the past 18 years including teachers, patwaris, forest guards, nurses and also in the police

"I would like to tell the voters to definitely cast vote...BJP will form the government in Madhya Pradesh, a double-engine government will be formed here. We will do development work like we did earlier. We will win more than 150 seats," BJP's heavy-weight candidate Kailash Vijayvargiya said.

In a long post in Hindi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge explained the significance of each vote which would lead to several benefits for different sections of the society. He said each vote would ensure welfare for everyone that was promised by the Congress to the people of Madhya Pradesh.

“Eight and a half crore people of Madhya Pradesh will win today because they are united for change. We urge the youth who are voting for the first time to participate enthusiastically in this movement for change and vote,” he wrote.

What he said:

1. New dimensions of employment are waiting for you and you will be free from the recruitment scams of the state.
2. The valuable vote of our mothers and sisters will create a cycle of economic security for women, which will lead them on the path of self-reliance.
3. Our farmers, farm labor brothers and sisters, will get better prices for their crops and their loans will be waived off with their one vote.
4. Our farmers, farm labor brothers and sisters, will get better prices for their crops and their loans will be waived off with their one vote.
5. The power of your one vote can provide important social security to students like financial assistance, right to health and drinking water and free insurance for treatment.

“Today voting will be held for all the assembly seats of Madhya Pradesh. I am confident that voters from every region of the state will vote enthusiastically and enhance the beauty of this great festival of democracy. My special greetings to all the youth of the state who voted for the first time in this election,” PM Modi wrote on X in Hindi.

Voters at polling stations across the state started to queue up to practice their universal adult franchise and await their turn to cast a vote. An elderly voter was seen showing her inked finger after casting her vote at a polling booth in Gwalior. Visuals from a polling station in Bhopal show people arriving at large numbers to vote.

Union minister Prahlad Patel, who is also in the fray, urged people of Madhya Pradesh to practice their universal adult franchise and touch the goal of achieving 100% voting in the state.

"I urge all the people of Madhya Pradesh to touch the goal of 100% voting...I request them to vote together for development...We will come to power for the fifth time with absolute majority," he said, adding that his party party will win this election with absolute majority and form the government for the fifth time.

A clash broke out between workers of the Congress and the BJP in Indore's Rau assembly constituency on Thursday night. According to police, the scuffle was between the supporters of BJP candidate and Congress candidate Jitu Patwari.

"On November 16, a clash broke out between the two groups. A report was filed at the police station in this regard. A person named Rohit Patwari has suffered injuries to his head and another person, Pushpendra Chauhan, has also suffered injuries," a senior police official said.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been fielded by the BJP from the Budhni assembly seat. The Congress pitted actor Vikram Mastal from this seat against him.

Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kamal Nath is contesting from his home turf in the Chhindwara constituency. The BJP has placed Vivek Bunty Sahu from this seat.

While former CM Digvijaya Singh is not contesting the polls this time, his son Jaivardhan Singh is contesting from his 'family' bastion, the Raghogarh constituency. However, with Jyotiraditya Scindia joining the BJP camp, the contest may get tricky.

The election is equally crucial for Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia after he led a faction of 22 MLAs in 2020 and jumped ship to BJP. The Union minister is not in the contest but many of his loyalists have been given tickets by the BJP. However, the old guards of the party have been opposing the move to distribute tickets on some seats.

BJP and the Congress have set the electoral narrative in the state elections, however, there are Bahujan Samaj Party and Aam Aadmi Party and Samajwadi Party who are also in the fray in the Hindi heartland state. They have made special efforts to drum up support from the OBCs, Dalits, women, tribals and youth during their campaigns.

While the Congress fielded Kamal Nath at the forefront as the party's prospective CM, the BJP seemed hesitant to place Shivraj Singh Chouhan as its CM face and gone for a ‘collective leadership’ instead. The reason for it is perceived as the ‘fatigue factor’ associated with Chouhan-led government.

Though Shivraj Singh Chouhan may not be personally facing anti-incumbency, there have been reports of a yearning for change among sections of the population.

Over 5,000 polling booths will be run by women and another 183 will be run by the disabled.

In order for voters to beat the queue and cast their votes, Indore has set up ‘smart’ polling station at Maa Kanakeshwari Devi Government College in Nanda Nagar in Assembly constituency number 2. People can also take photos of thier inked fingers the help of an Artificial Intelligence-equipped camera.

"To keep the smart polling station queue-less, we have introduced an online token system. People arriving for voting will be given token numbers and they can sit comfortably in the polling station till their turn comes," Rupal Chopra, assistant planner of the state-run Indore Smart City Development Limited.