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Voter turnouts of 75.27 per cent and 72.37 per cent, respectively, were recorded till 5 PM on Wednesday in the bypolls to Vijaypur and Budhni assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, an official said.

 

Polling began peacefully across all booths in these two constituencies at 7 am, state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sukhveer Singh told PTI.

Voting was held from 7 am to 6 pm.

 

Union agriculture minister and former Budhni MLA Shivraj Shing Chouhan, his wife and their two sons were among the prominent persons who exercised their franchise in Sehore district.

 

Budhni seat fell vacant after sitting MLA and former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan was elected to the Lok Sabha from Vidisha seat earlier this year.

Chouhan, his wife Sadhna, and Kunal exercised their franchise in their ancestral village Jait.

 

Kartikey Singh Chouhan was among the early voters in Budhni.

 

"I would like to urge everyone to participate in this festival of democracy," Kartikey told reporters after getting his finger inked.

 

Ramakant Bhargava, a close aide of ex-CM Chouhan, is pitted against Congress' former state minister Rajkumar Patel from Budhni constituency. Bhargava voted in Shahganj town.

The bypoll to Vijaypur constituency in Sheopur district was necessitated after sitting Congress MLA Ramniwas Rawat joined the BJP and was inducted as a minister in the Mohan Yadav cabinet.

Rawat cast his vote at his ancestral village Sunvai, an official said.

Rawat is pitted against tribal leader Mukesh Malhotra of Congress.

The Vijaypur constituency has 2,54,817 registered electors, comprising 1,33,581 men, 1,21,131 women, and 103 service voters.

In Budhni, there are 2,76,604 voters, including 1,47,197 men, 1,33,401 women, and 195 service electors, a poll official stated.

There are 327 polling stations in Vijaypur and 363 in Budhni.

A total of 2,760 poll officials and employees have been deployed to conduct the bypolls in both the assembly constituencies, the CEO said.

Nearly 1,500 district police personnel and adequate numbers of Home Guards and Special Police Officers (SPOs) have been deployed for security, he added.