Madhya Pradesh assembly polls: Re-polling begins at polling booth in Bhind’s Ater constituency

Bhind (Madhya Pradesh) [India]: Re-polling at a polling booth in Kishupura village in Madhya Pradesh’s Ater constituency in Bhind district began on Tuesday morning following the orders of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

ECI ordered re-polling at booth number three under polling centre number 71 in Kishupura village in the district on Sunday. The re-polling is being done after Madhya Pradesh Cooperative and Public Service Management Minister Arvind Singh Bhadoria filed a complaint and requested a repoll at more than half a dozen polling stations.

On the complaint of minister Bhadoria, Returning Officer (RO) of Ater Constituency, Parag Jain conducted the investigation and had recommended re-polling at a polling booth to District Election Officer Sanjeev Shrivastava.

Thereafter re-polling begins at 7 am on Tuesday and will conclude at 6 pm. A total of 1223 voters will re-vote at the said polling booth.

Elderly women and youth are arriving to exercise their franchise and tight security arrangements were made at the polling booth.

District Election Officer and Collector, Sanjeev Shrivastava also reached the polling station and took stock of all the arrangements related to voting.

Srivastva told media, “The voting is being conducted in a smooth and peaceful manner. All the arrangements related to voting have been made again here. Complete security arrangements have been made. People are taking part in the voting enthusiastically. The Candidates are allowed to come to the polling station according to the rules.”

Notably, the voting process was affected on November 17, the day when the polling was done in the entire state. After that an FIR was registered against two polling agents and two unknown persons for disrupting the voting process. Besides, four employees including the presiding officer posted at the polling booth were suspended.

The action was taken against polling agents Satendra Singh Bhadauria, Santosh Singh and their two unknown associates for violating the secrecy of voting, violating the Model Code of Conduct, obstructing government work and influencing the voting work.

On the other hand, Presiding Officer Satish Kumar, Polling Officer Yogendra Singh Bansal, Polling Officer Pankaj Jayant posted at the polling booth were suspended by District Election Officer Sanjeev Srivastava.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arvind Singh Bhadoria, who is also the sitting MLA from Ater, is contesting against former MLA Hemant Katare of the Congress party.

Voting for the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly took place on November 17 with a 77.15 percent voter turnout. The counting of votes is scheduled for December 3.