The polling in the by-elections at Kolaras and Mungaoli Assembly constituencies were by and large peaceful. Kolaras recorded 70.40 per cent polling, while it was 77.05 per cent in Mungaoli.
The valid votes in Kolaras were 2,44,457 out of which 1,72,115 were polled including 95,800 males and 76,312 females. Three lGBT votes were recorded in this constituency. In Mungaoli, there are 1,91,009 electorates, out of which 1,47,164 used their franchise.
By 3 pm, 69 per cent polling had been recorded in Mungaoli and 58.9 per cent in Kolaras.
The electronic voting machine at booth number 57 in Kolaras did not work in the morning, said. A resident of the town told that voting had not begun there due to the faulty machine, and that he had been standing in the queue for an hour.
“During a mock poll, 15 Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail machines in Kolaras and 17 in Mungaoli malfunctioned and were replaced,” Chief Election Officer Saleena Singh told media persons.
While polling was largely peaceful, clashes were reported in the Digoda village between Congress and BJP workers, an Election Commission official said.
Mungaoli and Kolaras are part of Madhya Pradesh Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia’s Guna constituency, said. Scindia has addressed over 75 rallies and participated in 15 road shows for these elections. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has also held 40 rallies and 10 road shows.
The bye-elections were necessitated by the deaths of Congress MlAs Mahendra Singh Kalukheda from Mungaoli and Ram Singh Yadav from Kolaras.
Assembly elections in the state are scheduled later this year. The ruling BJP has been in power since 2008.