MP polling ends at 6pm

Bhopal: Voting for 230 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh ended at 6pm on Friday, though those persons still in queue would be allowed to exercise their franchise, an official said. A total of 2,533 candidates are in the fray, among them heavyweights like Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Congress’ state unit president Kamal Nath, as well as several Union ministers and Lok Sabha MPs.

“Though voting ended at 6pm, it will continue for some more time for people who are still in queue,” the official said. Polling was held from 7 am to 6 pm in all Assembly segments except 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 of which are Naxalite affected. The voting time in these booths was between 7am to 3pm, the official said.

Assembly polls were held in a single phase on Friday, while results will be declared on December 3. Of the 230 Assembly seats in MP, 47 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and 35 for Scheduled Castes. The state has more than 5.6 crore eligible voters, the official added.