Bhopal, Nov 23 (PTI) Counting of votes polled in by-elections to Budhni and Vijaypur assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, where the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress were the main rivals, began on Saturday morning.
The counting process began at 8 am, an election official said.
For the Vijaypur seat, votes are being tallied at the Government Polytechnic College in district headquarters Sheopur and the entire process will be completed in 21 rounds, the official said.
The counting of ballots for the Budhni seat, vacated by former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, is being held at the Government Women's Polytechnic College in district headquarters Sehore and the enumeration will be concluded in 13 rounds, he said.
A three-layer security system has been put in place at the counting centres.
High voter turnouts of 77.85 per cent and 77.32 per cent were recorded in Vijaypur and Budhni, respectively, in the polling held on November 13.
The bypoll to Vijaypur was necessitated after sitting Congress MLA Ramniwas Rawat resigned and joined the ruling BJP. He was later inducted as a minister in the Mohan Yadav cabinet. Rawat contested against tribal leader Mukesh Malhotra of the Congress.
The Budhni seat fell vacant after sitting BJP MLA and former CM Chouhan was elected to the Lok Sabha from Vidisha in June. The BJP stalwart was later inducted into the Union Cabinet and allocated the key agriculture portfolio.
Ramakant Bhargava, a close aide of Chouhan, contested against former state minister and Congress candidate Rajkumar Patel in Budhni.