MP elections to be held in 4 phases from Apr 29-May 19

Polls for 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh will be held in four phases during April 29--May 19 period, state chief electoral officer (CEO) announced here Sunday. The Election Commission Sunday announced in Delhi that Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases in the country, beginning April 11.

Lok Sabha elections will be held in Madhya Pradesh in four phases on April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19, CEO V L Kanta Rao told a press conference. Six seats---Sidhi, Shahdol, Jabalpur, Mandla, Balaghat and Chhindwara--will go to polls during the first phase on April 29, the CEO said.

The seven seats that would go to polls in the second phase on May 6 are Tikamgarh, Damoh, Satna, Hoshangabad, Betul, Khajuraho and Rewa. A total of eight seats, namely Morena, Bhind, Gwalior, Guna, Bhopal, Sagar, Vidisha and Rajgarh will go to polls in the third phase on May 12, he said.

Remaining eight seats that will go to polls in the final phase on May 19 are Dewas, Ujjain, Mandsaur, Ratlam, Indore, Dhar, Khargone and Khandwa, the CEO added. A bypoll to Chhindwara assembly constituency will be held on April 29.

The by-election became necessary after sitting Congress MLA Dipak Saxena resigned to clear the way for Chief Minister and MP Kamal Nath, who took charge in December last year.