Bhopal: The high-voltage campaigning for third phase of Lok Sabha election in 8 constituencies of state ended on Friday 6 pm. Polling for the eight seats- Bhopal, Morena, Bhind (SC), Gwalior, Guna, Sagar, Vidisha and Rajgarh will be held on Sunday from 7 am to 6 pm. This will be the third phase of polling in Madhya Pradesh, with the first and second phases having been held on April 29 and May 6. The last phase will be held on May 19. While seven of these seats were won by the BJP in 2014, the Guna constituency was won by the Congress. The polling will decide the fate of several prominent candidates, including Digvijaya Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia, Narendra Singh Tomar and Congress working president Ramniwas Rawat. All eyes are set on Bhopal that is witnessing an interesting fight between Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and BJP’s Sadhvi Pragya Thakur.
As the candidates cannot any hold public meeting they have now concentrating on closed door meetings with influential community leaders. All non-voters- political workers and party functionaries engaged in campaigning- belonging to other constituencies have left the constituency. All kind of exit polls and opinion polls will remain banned during this period. In this period, no advertisements other than certified by the EC will be allowed to telecast or published.
Inter-state and inter-district borders have been sealed and all liquor shops have been closed till polling. Expenditure monitoring teams have been deputed at airports, bus stand and railway stations. Overall 1.44 crore voters including 32,000 service voters will exercise their franchise and choose between 138 candidates including 15 women contesting for 8 parliamentary constituencies. More than 18,141 polling booths have been prepared in 16 districts spread in these 8 constituencies. Senior officials have reviewed law and order situation and expressed satisfaction over poll preparations. 90 companies of Central police force and 45 of state have been deployed in these constituencies. About 1800 polling booths have been identified as vulnerable and extra police deployment has been done. These critical booths will be monitored through webcasting and videography as well.
BOX
PC total voters M F 3rd gender candidate polling booths
Morena 1837723 999047 838613 63 25 2351
Bhind (SC) 1765334 968287 796991 56 18 2171
Gwalior 2000744 1079718 920960 66 18 2327
Guna 1675724 889161 786519 44 13 2170
Sagar 1583129 841269 741823 37 10 2051
Vidisha 1741604 919583 821976 45 13 2330
Bhopal 2142861 1121754 1020924 183 30 2510
Rajgarh 1694329 881044 813259 26 11 2231
TOTAL
8 14441448 7699863 6741065 529 138 18141
sixth phase
Candidates focusing on closed door strategies
Non-voter political workers told to leave constituencies
1.44 cr voters to exercise their franchise
138 candidates including 15 women in fray
90 companies of Central paramilitary force, 45 of state deployed
Of 18,141 polling booths, 1800 identified as vulnerable
