Madhya Pradesh Elections: Voting in all 230 assembly seats underway; over 2,500 candidates in fray

Madhya Pradesh commenced its assembly elections today at 7 am, with voters across 230 assembly seats participating in the electoral process. The state, a political battleground for stalwarts from various parties, saw Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan stepping into the arena, contesting from the Budhni assembly constituency.

The electoral battleground includes heavyweight contestants from both major political players - the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and Samajwadi Party (SP) have also added to the complexity, fielding their candidates in a bid to sway the electoral landscape.

Polling stations opened their doors to voters at 7 am, and the exercise will continue until 6 pm in most assembly segments. However, exceptions exist, such as in Baihar, Lanjhi, and Paraswada seats in Balaghat district, 55 booths in Mandla district's Bichhiya and Mandla seats, and 40 polling stations in Dindori district, all Naxalite affected, where voting concludes at 3 pm.

The electoral fate of 2,533 candidates hangs in the balance, with the political heavyweights making headlines. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his predecessor, Kamal Nath, are among the prominent figures in this high-stakes contest. Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Patel, and Faggan Singh Kulaste from the BJP, along with BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and three Lok Sabha MPs, are also in the fray.

The Congress party has its own roster of notable candidates, including state president Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh's son and ex-state minister Jaivardhan Singh, and former chief minister Arjun Singh's son Ajay Singh.