Madhya Pradesh has begun its first and final phase of voting for the Assembly election 2023 today at 7 am onwards. The voters can cast their ballots until 6 pm, except in the Baihar, Lanji, and Parswara assembly seats of Balaghat district and some booths in Mandla and Dindori districts, where voting will be held until 3 pm.Polling begins in Madhya PradeshNotably, todays polling will decide the electoral fate of 2,533 candidates in 230 assembly seats, including political bigwigs like Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his predecessor and rival Kamal Nath, in a poll that will be a largely bipolar battle between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress.#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh Elections | Voting begins on all 230 assembly seats of the state. Visuals from a polling station in Narsinghpur. pic.twitter.com/oScn13DPuG— ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2023BJP is seeking to retain power in the state where it has ruled for almost 18 of the past 20 years and Congress is keen to oust the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.The webcasting facility has been made available at about 42,000 polling stations. Nearly 700 companies of the central forces and two lakh police personnel of the state have been deployed for security during the poll.According to the survey, almost 5.59 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise. It includes 2.87 crore male and 2.71 crore women voters.#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh Elections | People queue up outside polling stations as they await their turn to cast a vote.Visuals from a polling station in Bhopal. pic.twitter.com/S2dOe5m390— ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2023There are over 5,000 booths run by women and 183 polling stations run by the disabled, officials said.#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh Elections | An elderly voter shows her inked finger after casting her vote at a polling booth in Gwalior. pic.twitter.com/ZnSA5RHDxp— ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2023The polls, coming nearly six months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, are crucial for both the BJP and Congress for various reasons.