Madhya Pradesh: Voting underway for Jhabua Assembly seat on October 21

Polling will be held for the by-election to Madhya Pradesh's Jhabua Assembly seat on Monday, October 21. The ruling Congress is making all efforts to wrest the tribal-dominated constituency from the opposition BJP. Voting will be held from 7 am to 5 pm in 356 booths, district collector and returning officer Prabal Sipaha said on Sunday.

BJP leader G S Damor defeated Vikrant Bhuria of the Congress in the Assembly polls last year. Later, Damor contested the Lok Sabha election from Ratlam seat where he defeated Vikrant Bhuria's father Kantilal Bhuria. He subsequently resigned as MLA from Jhabua, which necessitated the by-election.

READ | RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat Urges People To Vote On Issues, Watch Here

By-election in Jhabua

The main contestants for the bypoll are senior Congress leader Kantilal Bhuria and BJP's Bhanu Bhuria, who is making his electoral debut. Three independents - Kalyan Singh Damor, Neelesh Damor and Rameshwar Singhar - are also in the fray. The polling teams reached their respective booths on Sunday morning in vehicles equipped with GPS system, an election official said. The constituency has 2.77 lakh voters, including three from the third gender, the collector said.

Four companies each of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and State Armed Forces (SAF), besides 600 police personnel from other districts have been deployed at the polling booths, he said. The CISF personnel have been deployed at 61 booths declared critical by the Election Commission, he added. The Congress, which enjoys a slim majority in the Assembly, is trying its best to wrest the seat from the BJP.

READ | Maharashtra Elections: Gadkari Says Will Get 'record-breaking Votes'

Earlier, the Congress won the seat, reserved for tribals, 10 times since 1952. But, the BJP wrested it in 2013 and retained it in 2018. During the campaigning, the BJP attacked Kantilal Bhuria and the Congress, saying they did nothing in terms of development of the region in the last three decades. It also highlighted Bhanu Bhuria's 'clean image'. On the Congress' side, Chief Minister Kamal Nath led the charge and several state ministers also held rallies.

Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh too canvassed for Kantilal Bhuria, known to be his loyalist. However, Congress general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia stayed away from campaigning. From the BJP, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other leaders, including state party chief Rakesh Singh and Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Faggan Singh Kulaste, campaigned for the bypoll.

READ | LIVE: Voting For Haryana & Maharashtra Assembly Polls Begins Today

READ | Gadkari On Shiv Sena: Will Become Same Party If Not For Varying Views