BHOPAL: The Congress has retained the Datia Assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh in the July 30 by-elections, results of which were declared on Monday.
Congress candidate Ghanashyam Singh has defeated his nearest BJP rival Ashutosh Tiwari by a margin of 6,016 votes to retain the seat for the party.
While Mr. Singh, a former MLA, has secured 66,757 votes, the BJP candidate has polled 60,741 votes.
Azad Samaj Party (ASP) candidate Damodar Yadav has garnered 22,527 votes, which is three times more than the victory margin of the Congress candidate.
The BJP had earlier dropped senior BJP leader and former home minister Narottam Mishra and chose debutant Mr. Tiwari as the party candidate for Datia by-elections, leading to violent protests by the supporters of Mr. Mishra.
The former minister had however campaigned for the party candidate in the by-poll.
Amid allegations of internal sabotage, leading to his defeat in the by-elections, BJP candidate Mr. Tiwari remarked that ‘Those involved in the sabotage should go for self-introspection since they once called BJP as their mother’.
State BJP president Hemant Khandelwal said that the party would review the by-election results and take stern action against those who would be found to have indulged in the sabotage.
Congress celebrated the by-election victory by distributing sweets and bursting fire crackers in Gwalior-Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh.
Veteran Congress leader and former chief minister Digvijay Singh hailed the party workers for ensuring the victory of the Congress candidate in the by-polls, saying that they stood by the party in the challenging and hard times of the party.
State Congress president Jitu Patwari said that the victory of Congress in the Datia by-elections has set the tone for the 2028 Assembly polls.
Congress on Sunday suspended former MLA Rajendra Bharti from the party on charges of indulging in sabotage in the by-elections.
The by-elections to Datia seat necessitated disqualification of Mr. Bharti from Assembly following his conviction by a Delhi court in a bank fraud case recently.
Significantly, the BJP has lost all the two Assembly by-elections since chief minister Mohan Yadav assumed office two and half years ago.
In Vijaypur Assembly by-elections, held in 2024, BJP candidate Ramnivas Rawat, who joined BJP from Congress before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, had lost the polls to Congress.1
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
