Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], May 2 : Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Rajan on Thursday held a review meeting with officials of Indore and Ujjain divisions to increase voter turnout in the upcoming third and fourth phases of Lok Sabha elections in the state.
Collectors, Inspectors-General of Police (IGs) and other officers concerned were present in the meeting organised in Indore. The main objective of the meeting was to increase the voting percentage and ensure peace and harmony during the elections.
Rajan told ANI, "Preparations for the Lok Sabha elections in the state were discussed in the meeting on Thursday. There is good preparation at the polling booths in view of law and order situation and heat. As the elections were conducted peacefully in the first two phases in the state, we will be successful in conducting elections in the third and fourth phases in the state as well."
He further explained that seeing the decline in the voter percentage in the first two phases, they were making all the efforts to increase the voter turnout in the remaining phases of LS polls.
"The voting turnout is recorded low in the first two phases and now extensive preparations are being made to increase it in the upcoming third and fourth phase. We are running 'Booth Chalo Abhiyan'. A core group has been formed at the booth level to make voters aware and it will motivate voters to exercise their franchise before the polling and also on the polling day," he added.
Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh are being conducted in four phases. The first phase of polling was held on April 19 and the second phase was concluded on April 26.
The next two phases will be conducted on May 7 and May 13. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
A total of nine parliamentary constituencies- Morena, Bhind, Gwalior, Guna, Sagar, Vidisha, Bhopal, Rajgarh and Betul- will go to the polls in the third phase on May 7.
On the other hand, eight constituencies - Dewas, Ujjain, Mandsaur, Ratlam, Dhar, Indore, Khargone and Khandwa- will go to the polls in the fourth and the last phase in the state on May 13.
With 29 Lok Sabha constituencies, Madhya Pradesh ranks sixth among all states in terms of its representation in the Lower House. Of these, 10 seats are reserved for SC and ST candidates, while the remaining 19 are unreserved.