In the second phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2024, six seats of Madhya Pradesh including Tikamgarh (SC), Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Rewa and Hoshangabad region will go to polls on Friday.
The Betul seat, which was scheduled to go for polls in the second phase, has now been shifted to third Phase on May 7 due to the death of BSP candidate Ashok Bhalawi following a heart attack. The polling for Betul seat will now take place with other nine seats of Gwalior-Chambal region and other.
State BJP chief V D Sharma is expected to have a cakewalk in Khajuraho after the nomination of the Samajwadi Party’s I.N.D.I.A. bloc candidate Meera Yadav was rejected over irregularities.
However, in a last-ditch attempt as face savor, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party have extended their support to R B Prajapati, the All India Forward Bloc candidate.
The Khajuraho Lok Sabha seat comprises 8 assembly segments with total votes around19.90 lakh. The BJP had won all 8 assembly seats in the 2023 state assembly election while V D Sharma had secured a victory margin of 4.92 lakh votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Other seats that will go to polls on April 26 include Tikamgarh (SC), Damoh (Gen), Satna (Gen), Rewa (Gen) and Hoshangabad.
In Tikamgarh, Union Minister and 7-time BJP MP Virendra Khatik is contesting against Congress’ Pankaj Ahirwar.
In Satna 4-time MP from BJP Ganesh Singh is locking horns against Siddharth Kushwaha. Though Ganesh Singh lost the assembly election in 2023 from Satna seat, the party has shown confidence in him.
In Damoh, the BJP has fielded Rahul Lodhi against Congress’s Tarwar Lodhi. In Rewa Janardan Mishra of BJP will take on Neelam Mishra of Congress while Darshan Singh Chaudhary of BJP is pitted against Sanjay Sharma of congress from Hoshangabad.
Meanwhile, contrary to expectations, the average voting in the first phase stood at 67.75 per cent, eight per cent less than the previous election. The lowest turnout was recorded in Sidhi with 55.19 per cent which was 14 per cent less than durng 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Chhindwara seat, though, experienced 79.25 per cent voting which was 2.8 per cent less than previous election. Observers claim the increase in voting percentage is advantageous to BJP, but this logic does hold good every time.
According to MP chief electoral officer Anupam Rajan, the reason behind the low turnout could be due to extreme weather conditions prevailing in some parts of the state. "Efforts are in place to increase the voting percentage with promotional campaigns etc. through various channels available. However the lower voter turnout is a cause of concern," he added.