Madhya Pradesh: Polling on in Ratlam Lok Sabha seat, no untoward incident yet

BHOPAL: Voting for Ratlam Lok Sabha and Dewas Assembly seat bypoll began on a peaceful note today with 13 per cent voters exercising their right till 9 AM.

"No untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the two constituencies and polling was underway smoothly," an election official said.

BJP, relying more on 'sympathy wave', has fielded Petlawad MLA Nirmala Bhuria, daughter of Dileep Singh Bhuria whose death necessitated the by-election to Ratlam LS seat.

In Dewas Assembly seat, the party has given ticket to Gayatri Raje Puar, the widow of erstwhile ruler of Dewas Tukoji Ra Puar, the sitting BJP MLA who died in June.

On the other side, the Congress has put up a united face and is banking on former Union minister Kantilal Bhuria to reclaim the Ratlam seat from BJP, and young leader Jaiprakash Shastri in Dewas.

Though the main contest is between BJP and Congress in Ratlam seat, the JD(U), buoyed by the success of the grand alliance in Bihar, tried to put up a similar front by roping-in CPI, CPM, Gondwana Gantantra Party and Bahujan Sangarsh Dal in the state to provide an alternative.

JD(U) president Sharad Yadav campaigned for alliance candidate Vijay Haari by spending two days in the tribal constituency.

A total of eight candidates are in the fray for the bypoll in Ratlam where 17,42,628 will exercise their right to franchise.

The counting of votes will take place on November 24.