Many highs around 90%, a low of 39%: How the 5 states voted

Here’s a look at the seats with the highest and lowest turnouts this time, and where the figures stand in the states’ electoral history.

Chhattisgarh

The elections to the 90-member Assembly this year saw the turnout drop to 76.31% from 76.45% in 2018. In the five polls held since the state was formed in 2000, the turnout peaked in 2013 at 77.12%, when the BJP won its third consecutive election.

For the second consecutive election, the Kurud Assembly seat saw the highest polling at 90.17%, up from 88.9% in 2018. Kurud’s polling percentage this time is the highest ever recorded in the state.

In the previous four elections, Kurud has elected a BJP legislator three times, with the Congress winning the seat just once in 2008. In 2018, the BJP’s Ajay Chandrakar garnered 42.27% votes, winning the seat by 12, 317 votes. This time, the BJP has again fielded Chandrakar against the Congress’s Neelam Chandrakar, who was an Independent and finished as the runner-up in 2018, and the Janta Congress Chhattisgarh- Jogi (JCC-J)’s Tejeshwar Kumar Kurre.

The lowest turnout in this election was recorded in the ST-reserved Bijapur seat at just 48.37%. The turnout here declined from 48.94% in 2018, when it had also seen the state’s lowest turnout. Bijapur also holds the record for the lowest turnout in the state, with 28.17% of its electorate turning out in 2008.

The largely rural Bijapur seat was among those that went to polls in the first phase and is among the left-wing extremism (LWE)-affected regions in the Bastar division.

In the last four polls, Bijapur has elected two BJP and two Congress MLAs. In 2018, the Congress’s Vikram Mandavi won comfortably with 55.92% vote by a margin of 21,584 votes. This time, Mandavi is contesting again and faces the BJP’s two-time MLA Mahesh Gagda and JCC-J’s Ramdhar Jurri.

Madhya Pradesh

The state’s overall turnout hit a record high of 76.22% for the 230-member Assembly this year, up from 74.97% in 2018, when the Congress won but was toppled by defections just over a year later.

The Scheduled Tribes (ST)-reserved Sailana Assembly seat, located along the Rajasthan border, saw the highest turnout at 90%, which is also the third highest turnout in MP’s history. Sailana saw the highest turnout in 2018 too, at 89.01%.

Since the Sailana seat was drawn up in the 1962 polls, it has elected a Congress MLA eight times and a BJP MLA just once in 2013. In 2018, the Congress’s Harsh Vijay Gehlot won the seat with a 44.74% vote share and a 28,498 vote margin. That year, the BJP’s Narayan Maida only managed 27.41% of the vote. While the Congress fielded Gehlot again, the BJP nominated Sangeeta Vijay Charel, who had won the seat in 2013.

The ST-reserved Jobat seat that borders Gujarat saw the lowest turnout at 54.04%. In 2018 too, it had the lowest turnout at 52.72%.

Since 1962, Jobat has elected a Congress MLA 10 times and a BJP MLA just twice. In 2018, the Congress’s Kantilal Bhuriya won by just 2,056 votes with a vote share of 33.53% compared to BJP candidate Madhosingh Dawar’s 32.04%. This time, the Congress has fielded a woman candidate in Sena Mahesh Patel against the BJP’s Vishal Rawat, who had contested the seat for the Congress in 2013 and lost. Two-time MLA Dawar, denied a BJP ticket, is contesting as an Independent.

Mizoram

Mizoram’s turnout has risen to 80.66% from 80.03% in 2018 for the 40-member, largely ST-reserved Assembly.

The Thorang seat recorded the highest turnout at 88.19%, the second highest on record in the state, after Aizawl South III’s 89.5% in 2013. In 2018, Thorang’s turnout was 86.63%.

Since the Thorang seat was established in 2008, the Congress has won here for three consecutive times. In 2018, the Congress’s Zodintluanga Ralte defeated the Mizo National Front (MNF)’s R Rohmingliana by 1,273 votes. This time, both are contesting again, with the BJP’s Shanti Bikash Chakma and the Zoram People’s Movement’s C Lalnunnema.

The lowest turnout was recorded in Saiha at 75.32%, down from 77.6% in 2018.

Since the Saiha seat was established in the 1972 polls, the Congress has won it six times and the MNF thrice. The MNF won here in 2018 with K Beichhua getting 49.82% of the votes and surpassing the runner-up, the Congress’s S Hiato, by 2,468 votes. This time, sitting MLA Beichhua is the BJP candidate against the MNF’s H C Lalmalsawma Zasai, the Congress’s N Chakhai and the ZPM’s K H Beithie.

In 2018, only 12 of the 40 seats saw a turnout below 80% and none below 70%. This time, no seat saw a turnout below 75%, though 17 seats were below the 80% mark.

Rajasthan

At 74.96%, the state’s overall turnout is up from 74.06% from 2018 for the 200-member Assembly polls.

The highest polling was reported in the ST-reserved Kushalgarh seat at 88.13%, up from 86.49%. The 2023 turnout here is the fourth highest on record in the state. The highest turnout ever was 98.56% in Behror in 1977.

Since 1957, Kushalgarh has elected a BJP or Congress MLA just once each, preferring candidates from the Janata Dal (United) and its predecessor Janata Dal on five occasions. In 2018, Independent Ramila Khadiya won with 47.67% of the vote and a margin of 18,950 over the BJP’s 2013 winner Bhima Bhai. Independents have played a considerable role in Rajasthan, winning 13 seats in 2018. This time in Kushalgarh, which borders both Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, Khadiya is the Congress candidate while the BJP has nominated Bhima Bhai.

The lowest turnout was reported in Jodhpur region’s Ahore seat at 61.24%, down from 61.89% in 2018.

Since the largely rural seat was formed in the 1957 polls, it has elected a Congress MLA eight times. The BJP has won here three times, including in 2018 with Chhagan Singh Rajpurohit winning 49.25% of the vote share and by a margin of more than 31,000 votes. This time, Rajpurohit faces the Congress’s Saroj Choudhary.

Since 1998, the turnout has declined below 50% in just four seats across three elections, including bypolls. This time, it has not dropped below 60% in any seat.

Telangana

Telangana’s overall turnout has dropped from 73.37% in 2018 to 71.34% this year for the 119-member House.

Since Telangana became a separate state in 2014, the highest turnout was recorded in Palair at 92.15% and the lowest in Malakpet at 42.39%, both in 2018. This time, Munugode’s 91.89% is the third highest on record while Yakutpura’s 39.64% is a new low for the state.

In Munugode, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Congress have each won once. In 2018, the Congress’s Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy won comfortably with 48.9% of the vote and a margin of 22,552 votes over the BRS’s Koosukuntla Prabhakar Reddy. Both have been fielded from the seat this time too.

Yakutpura is among the 15 seats that fall in Hyderabad. The city saw particularly low turnout this year with an overall polling percentage of 47.88%. Only six seats in the city crossed the 50% mark.

Yakutpura has elected an All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) nominee in the last five elections. In 2018, Syed Ahmed Pasha Quadri won 49.07% of the vote with a 46,978 vote margin over the BRS candidate. This time, the AIMIM has fielded a new face in Jaffar Hussain against the BJP’s N Veerender Babu Yadav and the Congress’s K Ravi Raj. Despite being allies in the state, the BRS has fielded Sama Sunder Reddy from the seat.