MP Bypoll 2020 Voting LIVE Updates: Voting for bypolls in 28 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh has begun amid speculation over the prospects of supporters of Congressman-turned-BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who are in the poll arena on BJP ticket. Bypolls for 54 assembly seats in 10 states are being held today and Madhya Pradesh accounts for almost half of these seats. The by-elections in Madhya Pradesh were necessitated after 22 MLAs of the erstwhile Congress government switched over to the BJP in March 2020, leading to the fall of Kamal Nath’s 15-month-old government. Three other Congress MLAs followed the lead of Scindia and his supporters, and joined the BJP. Another three seats in the Assembly are vacant due to the deaths of incumbent MLAs. A total of 355 candidates, including 12 ministers, are in the fray for bypolls to 28 seats in the state. Around 33,000 security personnel have been deployed in 19 districts where these constituencies fall and all preparations have been made to hold free and fair polls, an official said.
As many as 9,361 booths have been set up for people to exercise their franchise and out of these, 3,038 are placed under the ‘critical’ category, he added. Campaigning for the bypolls was marked by acrimonious exchanges between the main rivals BJP and Congress. In most of the seats, there is a direct fight between the BJP and Congress, while in two or three seats of Gwalior Chambal region, a triangular contest is on the cards in the wake of the BSP’s presence there, political observers said. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, BJP’s Rajya Sabha member Jyotiraditya Scindia, state BJP chief V D Sharma, and former chief minister Uma Bharti were BJP’s prominent campaigners. State Congress president and former CM Kamal Nath, Chattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh and party leader from Rajasthan Sachin Pilot toured the state to campaign for Congress nominees.
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