Madhya Pradesh Assembly election LIVE UPDATES: 74.6% percent voter turnout recorded in till 6 pm

Background

Madhya Pradesh (MP) Assembly election 2018: Polling ended in three constituencies of Maoist-affected Balaghat district in Madhya Pradesh and in the remaining 227 of the 230 Assembly seats polling where 74.6% percent voter turnout recorded till 6 pm. The polling ended in the three constituencies -- Baihar, Lanji and Paraswada -- at 3 p.m, while it continued till 6 p.m in all the other constituencies. The 2018 voting percentage is more than 2013 figure.

The contest is mainly between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, though the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) are also in the fray. Among the 2,907 candidates in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has fielded candidates in all 230 seats, while the Congress is contesting in 229 seats leaving one seat, Jatara in Tikamgarh district, for Sharad Yadav-led Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD).

The BSP has fielded 227 candidates and the SP is contesting in 51 seats. There are 1,102 Independent candidates. In the last polls, of the 230 seats, the BJP won 165, Congress 58, BSP four and Independents three. Over five crore registered voters in Madhya Pradesh -- 2,63,01,300 men, 2,41,30,390 women and 1,389 of the third gender -- will decide the fate of candidates.

20:24 PM (IST)  •  28 Nov 2018

Kamal Nath also said "I had said that we will win more than 140 seats but after today's voting & with all the information coming in, there is a possibility of a very surprising result."

20:22 PM (IST)  •  28 Nov 2018

Congress leader Kamal Nath sayd "We've demanded that repolling be done at all those polling booths where voting process was halted for 3 hrs or more because voters do not come back there as everybody has some work. Merely saying that polling will be extended till 9 o'clock or 10 o'clock is not right."

18:32 PM (IST)  •  28 Nov 2018

Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer VL Kantha Rao says "883 ballot units and 881 control units were replaced today. 2126 VVPATs were replaced during mock poll and during voting."

18:31 PM (IST)  •  28 Nov 2018

Chief Electoral Officer, Madhya Pradesh, VL Kantha Rao: 883 ballot units and 881 control units were replaced today.… https://t.co/kiblYdZvTi

18:20 PM (IST)  •  28 Nov 2018

74.61% voter turnout recorded till 6 pm in Madhya Pradesh. The percentage is more than 2013 figure.