A voter turnout of 65.32 per cent was recorded in the bypolls to three Assembly seats and 63.88 per cent in the Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh, officials said on Sunday. In the by-elections held on Saturday, Jobat (reserved for Scheduled Tribes candidates), Prithvipur and Raigaon (reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates) Assembly constituencies recorded 53.30 per cent, 78.14 per cent and 69.01 per cent polling, respectively, they said quoting late night figures of the Election Commission.
During the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls in 2018, Jobat, Prithvipur and Raigaon had registered a turnout of 52.84 per cent, 79.61 per cent and 74.53 per cent, respectively, they said. In Jobat, the voter turnout has been low as tribal workers migrate from there to other states in search of jobs, as per locals. Besides, the Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency recorded 63.88 per cent polling on Saturday, as compared to 76.90 per cent in the 2019 general elections.
A total of 48 candidates were in the fray in these four constituencies, the officials said. The by-elections were necessitated due to the death of sitting MLAs and an MP.
The Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency and Raigaon Assembly seat were held by the BJP, while Jobat and Prithvipur Assembly seats were with the Congress. The counting of votes will take place on November 2.
In Khandwa, the BJP fielded former district panchayat president Gyaneshwar Patil, denying the ticket to Harshvardhan Chauhan, the son of sitting MP Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan whose demise necessitated the bypoll. The Congress fielded former MLA Rajnarayan Singh Purni. In Jobat, Sulochana Rawat was the BJP's nominee against Congress candidate Mahesh Patel. The seat fell vacant due to the death of sitting Congress legislator Kalawati Bhuria.
Rawat, a former MLA, joined the BJP recently after quitting the Congress. She had won from Jobat on Congress's ticket in 1998 and 2008. In Raigaon seat, the BJP fielded Pratima Bagri, the daughter-in-law of MLA Jugal Kishore Bagri whose death necessitated the bypoll. She faced Congress' Kalpana Verma.
Verma had been defeated by Jugal Kishore Bagri in 2018. In Prithvipur, the BJP fielded former Samajwadi Party leader Shishupal Singh against Congress's Nitendra Rathore, the son of former minister Brajendra Singh Rathore whose death caused the bypoll.
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