Madhya Pradesh assembly election 2023 Live Updates: Indore sets up ‘smart’ polling station to help beat the queue

The high-decibel five-state assembly election entered its second leg as Madhya Pradesh goes to polls for 230 seats today. Chhattisgarh will also hold the last round of its two-phase elections for 70 seats today. The electoral narrative in Madhya Pradesh has been dominated by the Congress and BJP as high-octane campaigns pulled off by both the parties were the focal point in the run of to the polls.

The state has largely been in command of the BJP for almost 20 years, except for a two years brief rule by the Congress after 2018 polls. While the BJP’s aim is to retain the turf for another term, the Congress is vying for wresting power from the saffron party. The BJP went all out in its campaign with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, JP Nadda, Rajnath Singh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan were at the forefront.

Whereas, the Congress placed its chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh to challenge the saffron party from the stage. While the BJP claimed it had pulled the state out of ‘BIMARU’ category and offered a ‘corruption-free’ government, the Congress’ poll plank was around performing cast-based survey of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the state. Over 5.

60 crore voters will decide the fate of 2,533 candidates of the state today. The polling will start at 7 am at 2,049 stations which will end at 6 pm. Madhya Pradesh assembly elections 2023 Live: It’s an acid test for Jyotiraditya Scindia-loyalists too The election is equally crucial for Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia after he led a faction of 22 MLAs in 2020 and jumped ship to BJP.

The Union minister is not in the contest but many of his loyalists have been given tickets by the BJP. However, the old guards of the party have been opposing the move to distribute tickets on some seats. Madhya Pradesh assembly elections 2023 Live: Which are the other parties in fray other than BJP-Congress? BJP and the Congress have set the electoral narrative in the state elections, however, there are Bahujan Samaj Party and Aam Aadmi Party and Samajwadi Party who are also in the fray in the Hindi heartland state.

They have made special efforts to drum up support from the OBCs, Dalits, women, tribals and youth during their campaigns. Madhya Pradesh assembly elections 2023 Live: Is there a ‘fatigue factor’ at play from BJP? While the Congress fielded Kamal Nath at the forefront as the party’s prospective CM, the BJP seemed hesitant to place Shivraj Singh Chouhan as its CM face and gone for a ‘collective leadership’ instead. The reason for it is perceived as the ‘fatigue factor’ associated with Chouhan-led government.

Though Shivraj Singh Chouhan may not be personally facing anti-incumbency, there have been reports of a yearning for change among sections of the population. Madhya Pradesh assembly elections 2023 Live: How many booths will be run by women? Over 5,000 polling booths will be run by women and another 183 will be run by the disabled. Madhya Pradesh assembly elections 2023 Live: Indore sets up ‘smart’ polling station In order for voters to beat the queue and cast their votes, Indore has set up ‘smart’ polling station at Maa Kanakeshwari Devi Government College in Nanda Nagar in Assembly constituency number 2.

People can also take photos of thier inked fingers the help of an Artificial Intelligence-equipped camera. “To keep the smart polling station queue-less, we have introduced an online token system. People arriving for voting will be given token numbers and they can sit comfortably in the polling station till their turn comes,” Rupal Chopra, assistant planner of the state-run Indore Smart City Development Limited.

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