Bhopal, Apr 26: Madhya Pradesh recorded 38.96 per cent voter turnout till 1 pm in the second phase of polling for six parliamentary seats in the state, according to the data released by the Election Commission of India.

The polling for the six parliamentary seats -Tikamgarh (SC), Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Rewa and Hoshangabad began on Friday at 7 am in the state.

Of these, Hoshangabad is leading the voter turnout charts with 45.71 per cent voting followed by Satna 40.83 per cent, Tikamgarh 40.21 per cent, Khajuraho 37.89 per cent Damoh 37.57 per cent, and Rewa 31.85 per cent till 1 pm.

Earlier, the polling percentage in the state stood at 28.15 per cent till 11 am and 13.82 per cent till 9 am in the state.

Besides, during the first phase of voting on April 19, the state recorded 44.43 per cent voting till 1 pm and the final voter turnout stood at 67.08 per cent in the first phase of polling in the state. Six parliamentary seats--Sidhi, Shahdol, Jabalpur, Mandla, Balaghat and Chhindwara--went to the polls in the first phase on April 19.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief electoral Officer Anupam Rajan addressed a press conference and said the polling for the second phase began at all 12,828 polling stations at 7 am and was going on peacefully across the state.

"Today, the polling in the second phase of LS polls started at 7 am at all the 12,828 polling stations of the six parliamentary seats in the state. The polling is going on peacefully across the state. The voter turnout stood at 28.15 per cent in the first four hours till 11 am in the state. During the previous 2019 general elections, the polling percentage was almost the same in the second phase till 11am," Rajan said.

Mock polls were conducted at all polling station,s 90 minutes before the commencement of voting. During the mock poll, some Balloting Unit (BU), Control Unit (CU) and VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) faced problems and they were replaced.

There were a total of 51 BUs, 70 CUs and 88 VVPATs which were replaced, the officer said, adding that after the beginning of polling, a total of 14 BUs, 12 CUs, 22 VVPATs were changed which reported issues.

Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh are being conducted in four phases. The first phase of polling was held on April 19. The next two phases will be conducted on May 7 and May 13. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.

Madhya Pradesh has a total of 29 Lok Sabha constituencies, making it the sixth-largest state in terms of parliamentary representation. Out of these, 10 seats are reserved for SC and ST candidates, while the remaining 19 are unreserved.

(ANI)

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