Madhya Pradesh Election: Shivraj Singh Chouhan says 100% confident of victory with 200 seats

Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that he is 100 per cent confident that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will once again form government in the state with a massive mandate.

15 per cent voter turnaround was recorded in the first hour of polling in Madhya Pradesh. (Image: ANI)

Madhya Pradesh Assembly Election 2018: Amidst polling in Madhya Pradesh, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that he is 100 per cent confident that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will once again form government in the state with a massive mandate. Speaking to news agency ANI, Chouhan said, “We’re 100% certain that BJP will form government with an absolute majority. We have set a target of 200 seats and our lakhs of volunteers are working to make it a reality.” The BJP leader spoke to reporters after exercising his franchise in Budhni from where he is seeking re-election. Meanwhile, polling is underway across all 230 Assembly seats in the state amid tight security. According to initial reports, 15 per cent voter turnaround was recorded in the first hour of polling in Madhya Pradesh. As many as 65,000 polling stations have been set in the state for smooth conduct of polls. Earlier in the day, Chouhan along with his wife visited the banks of Narmada River in Budhni to offer his prayer and seek blessings. The Madhya Pradesh CM is contesting against Congress candidate Arun Yadav who is confident of rooting out BJP from the state. However, Yadav admits the battle against Chouhan on his home turf is "challenging" but insists the people's anger against the BJP, particularly against the Chief Minister himself, will translate into votes for the Congress and bring the party to power in the state after 15 years. According to a recent report by ANI, police have seized campaign material from BJP's polling agents from a polling booth in Saint Mary's in Bhopal as it was within 200 meters of a polling booth. One person was taken into custody. Two faulty EVMs in Ujjain have been replaced along with 11 VVPAT machines in Alirajpur, 5 VVPAT and 2 EVMs in Burhanpur also replaced. Even 15 candidates of Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are also in the fray in Budhni. The 230-member MP Assembly is undergoing polls in a single phase, with the results out on December 11. An electorate of over five crore is eligible to vote.