MP assembly bypolls: Budhni records 16.90 pc, Vijaypur 17.86 pc in initial trend till 9 am

Bhopal: Polling for by-elections at two assembly constituencies - Budhni in Sehore district and Vijaypur seat in Sheopur district, in Madhya Pradesh began on Wednesday morning.
A voter turnout of 16.90 per cent was recorded in Budhni while Vijaypur stood at 17.86 per cent in the initial trend of polling till 9 am in the state, according to the data released by the Election Commission of India.
Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's son Kartikey Chouhan, cast his vote at Jait polling booth number 26 in Sehore district for the Budhni by-elections and showed his inked finger after exercising his franchise.
He also appealed to the public of Budhni and Vijaypur assembly constituencies to exercise their franchise for the by-polls in the state.
"I would like to request the people of Budhni and Vijaypur to come out and cast their votes. There is an Assembly election in Jharkhand as well today. People should elect their representatives wisely. Keeping education and employment in mind, youth cast their votes and I believe that the current government is running many schemes through the regional conclave to promote industries in regional areas and to increase employment in the areas. It is a commendable initiative of CM Mohan Yadav," Chouhan told ANI.
"The Prime Minister has also initiated many schemes, whether it is internship programs or others. Keeping in mind all these schemes, the youth should exercise their franchise," he added.
Budhni assembly seat is the bastion of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and it got vacant after he got elected as Member of Parliament (MP) from Vidisha constituency in the recently concluded general election 2024.
BJP candidate Ramakant Bhargava is contesting from Budhni while Congress fielded Rajkumar Patel.
On the other hand, Vijaypur assembly seat in Sheopur district fell vacant after Ramniwas Rawat, who was sitting MLA from the seat from Congress party, quit the grand old party and joined the BJP amid the Lok Sabha elections in April this year. Currently, Rawat is the Forest and Environment Minister in the cabinet of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.
Congress candidate Mukesh Malhotra is contesting from Vijaypur assembly seat.
Polling for the two assembly seats in Vijaypur assembly seat and Budhni seat are going on and conclude at 6 pm. The counting of votes will be done on November 23.