Bhopal, May 23 (UNI) Counting of votes cast in Madhya Pradesh’s 29 parliamentary constituencies and the Chhindwara Assembly by-election – where Chief Minister Kamal Nath is the Congress candidate – commenced at 0800 hrs on Thursday within 292 chambers spread over 51 district headquarters amid three-tier security involving 9,000 personnel plus 1,800 closed-circuit television cameras.
Owing to the high number of postal ballots, extra rooms were readied, sources at the Chief Electoral Officer’s workplace said.
A total 913 assistant returning officers and 15,000 other officials will be in action. After every round of counting, results shall be available on the Voter Helpline app.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress emerged victorious in Chhindwara and Guna only while the saffron banner was unfurled over the other areas though Ratlam was later wrested by the Congress in a by-election.
Numerous stalwarts’ fortunes will become known by the post-afternoon period. The Bharatiya Janata Party bigwigs are two-time MP and Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar (Morena); six-time MP and Minister of State for Women and Child Development and Minority Affairs Virendra Kumar (Tikamgarh), four-time MP and erstwhile central minister Prahlad Singh Patel (Damoh); five-time MP and former Union minister Faggan Singh Kulaste (Mandla), sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur (Bhopal); three-time MP and BJP state President Rakesh Singh (Jabalpur).
The Congress camp’s prominent faces are two-time Lok Sabha member, presently Rajya Sabha Member and ex-chief minister Digvijaya Singh (Bhopal); four-time MP, General Secretary and ex-central minister Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna); two-time MP and erstwhile Union minister Arun Yadav (Khandwa); five-time MP and former central minister Kantilal Bhuria (Ratlam); the Assembly’s ex-leader of the opposition Ajay Singh (Sidhi); Rajya Sabha Member and senior advocate Vivek K Tankha (Jabalpur) and erstwhile MP Meenakshi Natrajan (Mandsour). Mr Nath’s son Nakul has entered the arena in Chhindwara from where his sire won on no less than nine occasions.
UNI Team-AC