108-year old man, 106-year old woman vote in Mizoram

Bhopal/Aizawl: More than 75 per cent of voters in Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram cast their ballots on Wednesday, during Assembly elections in the two states, where incumbent governments are seeking a straight fourth and third terms in office respectively.

A turnout of around 75 per cent had been recorded as of 6pm in Madhya Pradesh’s 227 assembly constituencies, compared to 72.13 per cent recorded in the 2013 assembly polls, Election Commission officials said in New Delhi.

In the state’s remaining three Maoist-affected constituencies of Balaghat district’s Baihar, Lanji and Paraswada, polling was recorded at 78 per cent, 79.07 per cent and 80.06 per cent respectively.

Polling in these three constituencies began at 7am and finished at 3pm.

Mizoram witnessed 75 per cent polling by 5pm at the close of polling. However, the officials said that the polling percentage would go up as in many constituencies the communication facilities were not there, thus they had not received the actual figures.

“Once we get the actual figures from those constituencies, the percentage of polling would go up,” the official said.

In 2013, Mizoram witnessed 83.41 per cent polling and 82.35 per cent voter turnout in 2008.

Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were used in Mizoram after 2003. The official said the highlight of the day in Mizoram was that more than 10,000 elderly voters exercised their franchise with a 108-year old man, 106-year old woman on wheelchair and 103-year-old man coming out to vote.

In the case of Madhya Pradesh, violence was reported in a few places in Bhind district.

Meanwhile, two peeople were arrested in a firing incident near an election booth in Bhind, police said.

Several Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) malfunctioned, which were replaced by the poll panel officials. The Election Commission also announced that Rs1 million (Dh51,994) each would be paid to its officials who died during the voting exercise.

The highlight of the day in Madhya Pradesh was the voting by a 101-year-old woman, who exercised her franchise in Agar Malwa district.

In the central Indian state, the contest is mainly between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, though the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) are also in the fray.

There are a total of 2,907 candidates. The BJP has fielded candidates for all the seats, while the Congress is contesting for 229 seats leaving one in Jatara in Tikamgarh district, for Sharad Yadav-led Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD).

The BSP has fielded 227 candidates and the Samajwadi Party is contesting for 51 seats. There are 1,102 Independent candidates.

In the last elections, the BJP won 165, Congress 58, BSP four and Independents three.

There are 26,3 million male electorates, 24,13 million women and 1,389 of the third gender.

In Mizoram, the last bastion of the Congress in the North-East, the party is striving for a third successive term against a stiff challenge from the Mizo National Front (MNF) headed by former Chief Minister Zoramthanga.

The fight is largely between the Congress and the Mizo National Front though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also seeking to make its presence felt.

The Congress has fielded 40 candidates while the BJP and MNF are contesting in 39 and 40 constituencies, respectively.

Around 770,000 voters will decide the fate of 209 candidates.