New Delhi:
The voting for Madhya Pradesh’s all 230 assembly seats and Chhattisgarh’s 70 seats–in the second phase of the election–begins.
In both of these Hindi heartland states, the main electoral fight is between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.
While in Madhya Pradesh, the incumbent is the BJP, in Chhattisgarh, it is the Congress that is seeking to retain power.
Counting of votes for both states will take place on December 3, along with votes for Telangana, Rajasthan and Mizoram, where elections are taking place in this round.
Here are the live updates on Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh Assembly Election 2023:
Get NDTV UpdatesTurn on notifications to receive alerts as this story develops.
On Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh elections, former Madhya Pradesh CM and BJP leader Uma Bharti says “Today is the mega festival of democracy. People have all the rights in a democracy. I appeal to the people to come out and vote in large numbers for BJP…”
Union Minister and BJP candidate from Narsinghpur, Prahlad Singh Patel casts his vote at a polling booth.
#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh Elections | Union Minister and BJP candidate from Narsinghpur, Prahlad Singh Patel casts his vote at a polling booth here. pic.twitter.com/CGsGeqjFzm
– ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2023
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP candidate from Budhni, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his wife Sadhna Singh greeted by women in Sehore.
#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh Elections | Chief Minister and BJP candidate from Budhni, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his wife Sadhna Singh greeted by women in Sehore.
Voting for the state elections is underway. pic.twitter.com/WWfwSEcJtH
– ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2023
Madhya Pradesh Home Minister and BJP candidate from Datia Narrotam Mishra says, “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.”
5.7% voter turnout recorded till 9:00 AM in the second phase of voting in Chhattisgarh
10.4% voter turnout recorded till 9:00 AM in Madhya Pradesh
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday extended his greetings to first-time voters in Madhya Pradesh where polling is underway for the 230-member Assembly.
He also urged voters to turn out in numbers to exercise their right of franchise in the second phase of polling for 70 seats in the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly.
Polling for the second phase in Chhattisgarh began at 8 pm and will continue till 3 pm while voting in nine polling stations of Bindranavagarh Assembly constituency will be held from 7 am to 3 pm.
For Chhattisgarh, over 18,800 polling stations have been set up for the second phase of polling. A total of 958 candidates are in the fray across the 70 seats.
While polling is being held in a single phase in Madhya Pradesh, voting for the first phase in Chhattisgarh for 20 seats was held on November 7.
With the voting for Madhya Pradesh assembly seats underway, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Friday expressed confidence on the formation of a double-engine government in the state and said that the party will win more than 150 seats.
Speaking to ANI about the polls, the BJP candidate from Indore 1 said, “I would like to request all the voters to cast their votes. BJP will form the government in Madhya Pradesh, and a double-engine government will be formed here. We will do development work like we did earlier. We will win more than 150 seats.”
With the commencement of the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls early this morning, BJP candidate Kailash Vijayvargiya offered prayers at his residence in Indore.
#WATCH | Chhattisgarh Elections | State Minister and Congress candidate from Durg Rural, Tamradhwaj Sahu casts his vote at a polling booth in Durg. pic.twitter.com/OCKA1P2mSP
– ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2023
#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh Elections | BJP candidate from Indore-1, Kailash Vijayvargiya and his wife Asha Vijayvargiya cast their vote at a polling booth in Indore. pic.twitter.com/Mzzz3u6V4J
– ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2023
VD Sharma says “Our state BJP team is monitoring the elections underway in the state. Our workers in the Control Room are making sure that the elections are organised in the best possible way…People of the state will bless the BJP and we will get a huge majority. BJP is going to create history in Madhya Pradesh…”
#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh Elections | Congress candidate from Rau, Jitendra (Jitu) Patwari and his mother cast their votes at a polling booth in Indore. pic.twitter.com/birpfLI0hK
– ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2023
A differently-abled voter being helped to reach the polling booth, at a polling station in Raipur.
#WATCH | Chhattisgarh Elections | A differently-abled voter being helped to reach the polling booth, at a polling station in Raipur. pic.twitter.com/eeJ8eEdX0m
– ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2023
Just In| Voting begins for the second phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly elections; remaining 70 seats in the fray.
#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh Elections | State Congress president and party’s candidate from Chhindwara, Kamal Nath casts his vote at a polling booth here. pic.twitter.com/L7nAyC2NCR
– ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2023
State Congress president and party’s candidate from Chhindwara, Kamal Nath says, “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…”
“BJP has Police, money and administration. They will have it for a few more hours now. Yesterday, I received several phone calls, someone sent me a video that shows that liquor and money was being distributed,” he says.
#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh Elections | People show their inked fingers after casting their vote at a polling booth in Indore. pic.twitter.com/mpXZU8zUBG
– ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2023
“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.”
#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh Elections | BJP candidate from Indore-1, Kailash Vijayvargiya offers prayers at his residence in Indore.
Polling on all 230 assembly seats of the state is underway. pic.twitter.com/n5sF37FzCE
– ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2023
#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh Elections | People queue up outside polling stations as they await their turn to cast a vote.
Visuals from a polling station in Bhopal. pic.twitter.com/S2dOe5m390
– ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2023
Union Minister and BJP candidate from Narshinghpur, Prahlad Patel says, “…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…”
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel urges voters to cast their vote. He said, “today polling will happen for the remaining 70 seats…Your one vote will decide the future of youth, farmers, women…Please move out of your homes to vote…Vote for the betterment of Chhattisgarh.”
PM Modi urges people to cast their vote
Early voters exercise their franchise in Bhopal
- Voting for Madhya Pradesh’s all 230 assembly seats began at 7 am today.
- The voters can cast their ballots until 6 pm, except in the Baihar, Lanji, and Parswara assembly seats of Balaghat district and some booths in Mandla and Dindori districts, where voting will be held until 3 pm.
- The webcasting facility has been made available at about 42,000 polling stations. Nearly 700 companies of the central forces and two lakh police personnel of the state have been deployed for security during the poll.
- The election will decide the electoral fate of over 2,500 candidates.
- Nearly 5.59 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise. It includes 2.87 crore male and 2.71 crore women voters.
- There are over 5,000 booths run by women and 183 polling stations run by the disabled, officials said.
- The polls, coming nearly six months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, are crucial for both the BJP and Congress for various reasons.
- Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, two of the three heartland states drawing public attention ahead of next year’s general election, vote today.
- While for Madhya Pradesh, it will be a single-phase election, Chhattisgarh is voting for a second time.
- Chhattisgarh is the one state from which the Congress has the highest hope in this round of elections.
- Not only is the state BJP in a disarray, there is massive support for Bhupesh Baghel, the Chief Minister who set the state on the path of progress, the party claims.
- The Congress is aiming to win 75 of the state’s 90 seats.
- But of the two states, Madhya Pradesh with 230 seats is generating bigger interest given the twist in the backstory of this election.
- The collapse of the Congress government led by Kamal Nath in 2020 following Jyotiraditya Scindia and his 22 loyalists’ walkover, placed the BJP back in power again.
- Now each party is out to prove they have been the people’s choice.
Aisha Patel is a dedicated Indian correspondent with a deep understanding of the nation’s diverse affairs. With a background in Indian culture, politics, and current events, she provides in-depth analysis and timely reporting on domestic issues within India.