Bhopal, Jul 20 (IANS): The counting for the second phase of urban body elections, including five Municipal Corporations, in Madhya Pradesh began early on Wednesday as was scheduled by the state election commission (SEC).

Besides the five Municipal Corporations, the results for 40 other Municipalities and 169 Nagar Parishads, will also be announced in the day. The counting of votes started at 9 a.m. The voting for the second and final phase of civic body polls was held on July 13. According to the State Election Commission, 72.10 per cent of voters exercised their franchise across 43 districts.

The five municipal corporations where polling was conducted in the second phase and the counting is underway are -- Morena, Rewa, Katni, Dewas and Ratlam. Madhya Pradesh has a total 16 Municipal Corporations across the 52 districts. The elections for the 11 Municipal Corporations were held in the first phase and the result was announced on July 17.

Out of the 11, the state ruling BJP has won seven mayoral posts, Congress three and the debutant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won one mayoral post. Like in the first phase, all eyes will be on AAP's performance in the second phase. However, the BJP and the Congress will be main contestants, especially for the mayoral posts, but the AAP can surprise again in Rewa and Katni.

Of the 11 civic bodies where the polling took place in the first phase of elections on July 6, the ruling BJP has emerged victorious in Burhanpur, Satna, Ujjain, Khandwa and Sagar, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won a mayor's post in Singrauli. This is the first time that the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP contested civic elections in Madhya Pradesh.

In the first phase of municipal polls, the BJP has retained power, especially in Bhopal and Indore. While the Congress' three sitting MLAs, who were fielded as mayoral candidates, lost the elections in Satna, Indore and Ratlam.