Polling begins in MP for two constituencies

Bhopal, Oct 30: Amid strict security arrangements, polling began peacefully at 0800 hrs across 1,696 polling centres today in byelections to Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency and Malehra assembly constituency.

Official sources said that more than 13 lakh voters in Vidisha and in excess of 1.84 lakh in Malehra can exercise their franchise until 1700 hrs through electronic voting machines in 1,480 and 216 polling centres respectively.

Vidisha fell vacant following the resignation of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan while Bharatiya Jan Shakti (BJS) Founder-President and former chief minister Uma Bharti put in her papers from Malehra.

There are ten candidates in the fray at Vidisha where the key contest is between Bharatiya Janata Party candidate and state Public Health Engineering Minister Rampal Singh versus Congress nominee Rajashree Singh. The contest has been rendered triangular by the presence of BJS state President Raghunandan Sharma. The Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate is its state General Secretary Munawar Saleem.

Twenty-two candidates are in the arena at Malehra where the key contest is between Mr Kapoorchand Ghuwara (BJP) and Ms Rekha Yadav (BJS). The Congress has fielded Mr Jagdish Shukla and Mr Surendra Yadav is the SP nominee.

UNI