Voters in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are heading to the polls on Friday to elect a new government for the next five years.
This is the second and last phase of polling for the 90-member Chhattisgarh legislative assembly. Voting is being held on 70 seats in this phase. In Madhya Pradesh, all the 230 constituencies are undergoing polls today.
In Chhattisgarh, Congress is the incumbent party. During the election campaigning, the party claimed it would win 75 of the total seats.
Both the states recently witnessed intense poll campaigning, with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union ministers actively participating in the BJP rallies.
Meanwhile, the BJP is the ruling party in Madhya Pradesh. State Chief and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan has ruled for almost 20 years, except from 2018-2020.
Similarly, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former president Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and the party's former state chiefs addressed election rallies to woo voters.
Till 11 a.m., the provisional voting percentage in Madhya Pradesh was 28.18 percent in 2018, the final turnout was 75.5 percent. In Chhattisgarh, it was 19.65 percent, and in 2018, the turnout was 76.7 percent.
India is currently holding elections in five states that are being held between 7 and 30 November in four phases.
The first phase was held on 7 November, when voting for 20 seats in Chhattisgarh and Mizoram states was conducted. The second phase is taking place today. On 25 November, voting will be held in Rajasthan. The remaining state, Telangana, will witness elections on 30 November.
The counting of votes for all these states will be conducted on 3 December.