- By Abhirupa Kundu
- Fri, 17 Nov 2023 07:33 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections: Voting for Madhya Pradesh Assembly Polls began on Friday morning for 230 seats. In poll related violence, on Thursday night, a clash broke out between workers of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party supporters in Indore's Rau Assembly constituency, the police said.
The scuffle broke out primarily between supporters of Congress candidate Jitu Patwari and BJP candidate Madhu Verma. The police had to use force to disperse the crowd.
"On November 16, a clash broke out between the two groups. A report was filed at the police station in this regard. A person named Rohit Patwari has suffered injuries to his head and another person, Pushpendra Chauhan, has also suffered injuries," said Additional DCP, Zone 4, Abhinay Vishwakarma.
"There was an allegation that one group distributed liquor and blankets to the voters, and the dispute erupted over it. We will look into it and take the necessary action," the police official added.
The police said that after the dispute, both parties came to the police station, where they again started to fight. Later the crowd was dispersed as the poloce used force on them.
The Madhya Pradesh elections 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.
There are over 5,000 booths run by women and 183 polling stations run by the disabled, officials said.
The polls, coming nearly six months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, are crucial for both the BJP and Congress for various reasons.
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.
Madhya Pradesh will vote for all the seats in a single phase and the counting of votes, with four other states, will be taken up on December 3.
(With agency inputs)