MP Election 2023: 'Voting To Be Held From 7 Am To 3 Pm In Naxal-Affected Areas', Says Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Rajan

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Anupam Rajan on Thursday said that the voting for the state assembly polls would be held from 7 am to 3 pm in the Naxal-prone areas in the state.

There are three districts that are Naxal-affected in the state which include Balaghat, Mandla and Dindori.

"Tomorrow is polling day for 230 assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh. Voting will start at 7:00 am and conclude at 6:00 pm in the state. But voting will be held from 7 am to 3 pm in assembly constituencies in Balaghat namely, Baihar, Lanji and Paraswada assembly constituency. Along with this, voting at 55 polling stations in Mandla district and 40 polling stations in Dindori district will also be held from 7 am to 3 pm. The reason for this is that these three districts are Naxal-affected districts in the state," Rajan said.

He further said that besides, before voting mock polling would be conducted at all the centres in the state. It is conducted 90 minutes before the polling starts in the presence of the polling agents.

Today, the polling parties were sent to all polling stations in the state and there are a total of 64626 polling centres in the state, the officer added.

Meanwhile, Rajan said that the election commission deployed an air ambulance and two helicopter for emergency services during the elections in the state.

"One air ambulance and two helicopters will be available for emergency services in the state. The air ambulance will be available in Jabalpur till the completion of voting on November 17. A helicopter will be kept at Balaghat till the end of voting tomorrow and another helicopter will be available in Bhopal all the time," he added.

The air ambulance and helicopter will be used for any type of emergency services. The state Aviation Directorate has directed Collector Balaghat, Jabalpur, Bhopal and Airport Director Gondia to make necessary arrangements. Air ambulance will be called from Gondia, a city in Maharashtra, to Jabalpur this evening, after which it will be sent back to Gondia, he added.

The counting of votes will take place on December 3.