As many as 4 crore 66 lakh 9 thousand 24 voters will cast votes in MP on November 25. On this day, they will decide the fate of 2,583 candidates including 200 female candidates. Total 53 thousand 946 polling booths have been set up in the State. The number of critical polling booths is 14 thousand 950, rural booths 11 thousand 539 and urban booths 3411. There are 60 sensitive constituencies. As many as 514 polling booths have been set in Naxal-prone areas.
All is set for polling in all 51 districts of the state. Polling will be held from 8 am to 5 pm in 227 Vidhan Sabha constituencies and from 7 am to 3 pm in 3 constituencies of Balaghat district including 108-Baihar, 109-lanji and 110-Paraswara. This time, one crore more voters will cast votes as compared to Vidhan Sabha elections in year 2008. These include 2 crore 45 lakh 51 thousand males and 2 crore 20 lakh 56 thousand 812 females. The number of service voters is 22 thousand 735, others 970 and NRI voters 6. As many as 50 lakh voters will cast their voters in this election for the first time. The number of young voters is one crore 65 lakh 48 thousand 82 and gender ratio is 898. Voters will also be motivated through SMS on mobiles to exercise their franchise.
For this Vidhan Sabha Election, 66 political parties including 6 national recognised political parties, 9 state-level parties and 51 other parties have fielded their candidates compared to 91 parties in Vidhan Sabha election in year 2008.
As many as 70 thousand 595 EVMs (BU) will be used to conduct Vidhan Sabha election this year. Of these, Maximum 3,442 EVMs will be used in Satna district and minimum 527 in Harda district. For the first time in any election, “NOTA” (None of the Above) is being pasted in English and “In Men Se Koi Naheen” in Hindi on EVMs in place of 49-O. NOTA will be at the bottom of ballot paper. Similarly, photo bearing voter slips have been distributed door to door for the first time.
large number of companies of paramilitary forces and police personnel have been deployed to ensure free and fair polling in all 230 Vidhan Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh. Security personnel also conducted flag march in districts today. As many as 552 companies of Central Paramilitary Force, CRPF and Special Armed Police have been deployed in Madhya Pradesh.
A better communication plan has been chalked out to receive minute-to-minute information about polling. Specialised staff has been posted at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer for communication plan.
The CEO Office has also activated a control room to receive information on polling day through SMS, internet, telephone etc. under PBMS, information regarding mock pool, polling and EVM functioning will also be given.