Madhya Pradesh Elections: 27.79 per cent voting recorded till 11 am

Voting in the ongoing state elections in Madhya Pradesh has been recorded at a total of 27.79 per cent till 11 am today. 

The voting, which is underway in Madhya Pradesh, is witnessing more than 2,000 candidates contesting for 230 seats in the state assembly.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and state Congress chief Kamal Nath are in the fray for today's polls. 

Kamal Nath, who has already cast his vote, told India Today on Friday that the people of Madhya Pradesh will make the right decision as they are "unhappy with corruption, unemployment, farmers' problems, small traders' problems". "The whole picture is in front of the people of the state," he added.

Meanwhile, Chouhan and his wife Sadhna Singh were welcomed by a massive crowd of women in Sehore as he went to offer prayers at a temple. A video shared by news agency ANI showed tilaks being applied to their heads as the Chief Minister's wife feeds the women sweets.

Referring to his 'mama' (maternal uncle) term, the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister told India Today this morning that everyone loves him and has Prime Minister Narendra Modi at their hearts. 

Meanwhile, chaos erupted in Morena district in Madhya Pradesh soon after voting commenced in the state this morning. Firing was reported in the Mirgham village of Dimmi Vidhan Sabha, in which two people were shot. There was an attempt to influence voting, and two more people were injured in a stampede as well.

The BJP hopes to retain power in Madhya Pradesh by banking on the success of central and state schemes implemented in the state. Meanwhile, the grand old party is counting on anti-incumbency and corruption accusations against Shivraj Singh Chouhan to shift the gear towards them.

The BJP has fielded Chouhan from the Budhni constituency, and actor Vikram Mastal will be going against him from Congress's side. Mastal played the role of 'Hanuman' in the 2008 TV serial 'Ramayan 2'. Other bigwigs who are in the fray today are former Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar from Dimmi, Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel from Narsingpur, and former Chief Minister and Congress's state chief Kamal Nath from his home turf of Chhindwara.

BJP National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, one of the party heavyweights, is contesting the Indore-1 seat. Congress has pitted former Indore Mayor Sanjay Shukla, who had won the 2018 assembly polls from the constituency, against him.

Kamal Nath's term as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister ended in March 2020 after a rebellion by his party colleague Jyotiraditya Scindia. It ultimately resulted in Shivraj Singh Chouhan's BJP government coming back to power in the state.