Around 73 percent voting was recorded till 5.30 pm at four polling booths in Betul Lok Sabha constituency of Madhya Pradesh, where a re-poll was conducted on Friday.
The re-polling at the four booths was necessitated following damage to some loaded Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) while they were being brought back to the strong room after the initial polling in the entire constituency that took place in the third phase on 7 May.
When the polling parties were returning in a bus late night on 7 May to store the loaded EVMs in the strong room, the bus had caught fire resulting in damage to some EVMs. The incident had occurred near the village Sonora Gaura in Betul.
According to officials, the indelible ink during the re-polling today was applied on the middle finger of the left hand of voters, as it was already present on their index fingers from the initial voting process.
Officials said that a local holiday was announced today in the areas going to re-polling. All liquor shops were also closed, as a dry day was also announced.
The four polling booths where voters cast their votes again were set up at Government Primary School Kunda, Raiyat, Government Integrated High School, Raiyat, Government Integrated High School, Chikhlimal and Government Integrated High School, Rajapur.
According to officials, the final voting percentage at the four booths would be available later in the night, after all the polling parties return and the final data is assimilated.
The main contest at Betul is between BJP candidate two-time MP Durgadas Uikey and the Congress’ Ramu Tekam.
An estimated 72.65 percent polling was recorded in the Betul Lok Sabha seat on 7 May.
Betul was among the nine Lok Sabha constituencies of Madhya Pradesh, which went to polls in the third phase on 7 May.