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The eight Lok Sabha constituencies of Madhya Pradesh that went to polls in the fourth phase on May 13 recorded a voter turnout of at least 71.72%, concluding the election process on all 29 seats of the State.
According to the data shared by Anupam Rajan, the State’s Chief Electoral Officer, Khargone (ST) seat recorded the highest polling percentage at 75.79%. Indore saw the the lowest voter turnout at 60.53, he added.
The average voting percentage on the eight seats in 2019 was 75.65%.
Voting concluded in 21 seats of the State during the first three phases with an average polling percentage of 64.76.
The State saw high-decibel electioneering with leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi campaigning here.
While the Congress’ campaign remained centred around its pitch of caste census and allegations of BJP preparing to take away reservation, the BJP sought votes on issues like Ram Temple, Article 370, its welfare schemes and allegations that the Congress wanted to give religion-based reservation to Muslims.
While most seats of the State saw a direct fight between the BJP and Congress, two seats did not have a candidate from the Opposition party. The Congress’s candidate from Indore, Akshay Kanti Bam, had withdrawn his nomination on April 29, following which the party ran a campaign asking voters to opt for NOTA. Arguments between the BJP and Congress workers over the latter’s campaign for NOTA were reported from a few places in Indore, while local BJP MLA Malini Singh accused a polling officer of asking people to choose NOTA.
The Congress had left the Khajuraho seat, that went to polls in Phase 2, for its INDIA bloc ally Samajwadi Party, but the nomination form of its candidate Meera Yadav was rejected due to alleged irregularities. The INDIA coalition had later extended its support to former IAS officer Y. B. Prajapati, the All India Forward Bloc candidate, declaring him the official nominee of the alliance.
The seats that saw a close contest between the BJP and Congress are Chhindwara, Mandla (ST), Rajgarh, Morena, Bhind (SC), Ratlam (ST).
In Chhindwara, where former Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s son Nakul Nath sought a consecutive second term, the BJP had staged an aggressive campaign. In Mandla, Union Minister and six-term MP Faggan Singh Kulaste had to battle local anti-incumbency and a challenge from Congress’s prominent tribal leader Omkar Singh Markam.
Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh returned to contest from his home constituency Rajgarh after over 30 years and hopes to wrest the seat from BJP’s two-term MP Rodmal Nagar.
In the two seats of State’s Chambal belt — Morena and Bhind – caste equations spiced up the contests between the two parties. In Morena, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) also made the contest a triangular one.
Ratlam also witnessed a fierce contest where former Union Minister and five-term Congress MP Kanjilal Bhuria took on BJP candidate and district council president Anita Nagar Singh Chouhan, who is the wife of State Minister Nagar Singh Chouhan. The seat which has over 65% tribal voters is seeing a tussle between the two sub-groups of the community — Bhil and Bhilala.
Rewa and Satna seats, that polled in phase 2, also saw three-way fights with BSP candidates due to the region’s caste calculus.
Satna also witnessed an interesting contest between BJP’s four-term MP Ganesh Singh and Congress MLA Siddharth Kushwaha, who faced off just five months ago in the Assembly election, with Mr. Kushwaha emerging victorious in November in a BSP-influenced triangular fight.
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