Narendra Chouhan, the brother of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, on Friday talked up the prospects of the ruling BJP in the single-phased Assembly elections, which is currently underway in the state.
He said he was hopeful of the BJP returning to the hustings in MP with a comfortable majority.
Narendra Chouhan said, “All arrangements are in place and people are waiting eagerly to cast their votes. People will vote first and then proceed to their respective workplaces. The BJP is on course to forming the government with a big majority.”
Voting for Madhya Pradesh’s 230 assembly seats began at 7 am on Friday. The voters can cast their votes until 6 pm, barring the Baihar, Lanji, and Parswara assembly seats of Balaghat district and some booths in Mandla and Dindori districts where polling will be held till 3 pm.
The BJP is seeking to retain power in the state where it has ruled for almost 18 of the past 20 years and Congress is keen to oust the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.
Webcasting has been made available at about 42,000 polling stations. Nearly 700 companies of the central forces and two lakh police personnel of the state have been deployed for security during the poll.
The election will decide the electoral fate of over 2,500 candidates.
Nearly 5.59 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise. It includes 2.87 crore male and 2.71 crore women voters.
