Bhopal, Nov 10 (PTI) The BJP won 16 seats till Tuesday
night out of the 28 assembly constituencies where bypolls were
held in Madhya Pradesh, giving it a comfortable majority in
the House and providing stability to its eight-month-old
government in the state.
The results have also come as a shot in the arm for
former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who took a big
political risk by quitting the Congress and joining the BJP in
March.
With most of his loyalists winning the November 3
bypolls, Scindia, a Rajya Sabha MP, will look to cement his
place in the BJP.
BJP candidates are leading with comfortable margins in
three other assembly seats.
Out of the 28 seats which were up for grabs in
bypolls, the ruling BJP has won 16 so far and is leading in
three others (Sanver, Jaura and Mehgaon), according to the
Election Commission (EC) data.
The opposition Congress has managed to secure victory
in seven seats and is leading in two others (Dimani and
Gwalior-East) with comfortable margins, the data showed.
In the 230-member House, the BJP tally has increased
to 123 (well above simple majority mark of 116) with the
addition of these 16 seats, providing stability to the
Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.
Before the bypolls, the BJP”s tally in the House stood
at 107.
In Sanver, Scindia loyalist Tulsi Silawat is leading
by a margin of47,947 votes against Congress candidate Prem
Chand Guddu.
BJP minister OPS Bhadoria is leading in Mehgaon by a
margin of 12,021 votes, while his party colleague Subedar
Singh Rajoudha is ahead by 13,478 votes in Joura.
BJP minister Girraj Dandotiya is trailing in Dimani by
a margin of 26,178 votes against Congress candidate Ravindra
Singh Tomar.
The saffron partys nominee, Munna Lal Goyal, is
trailing by a margin of 7604 votes against Congress candidate
Dr Satish Sikarwar in Gwalior-East.
However, in a setback to the BJP, its woman minister
Imarti Devi lost bypoll from the Dabra assembly seat, an
election official said.
Congress candidate Suresh Raje defeated Imarti Devi,
considered a loyalist of Scindia, by a margin of 7,633 votes,
the official said.
State Congress president Kamal Nath”s “item” jibe at
Imarti Devi during campaigning had generated a controversy and
invited criticism. The former chief minister later expressed
regret over the comment.
Though the Congress left no stone unturned in
portraying Scindia as a traitor because of his rebellion
against the Kamal Nath government that paved the way for the
BJP”s return to power, the campaign plank failed to find much
traction among voters.
Scindia has repeatedly said his decision to quit the
Congress was driven by “failure” of the erstwhile Nath
government to fulfil promises made to people, especially
farmers.
The BJP”s victory in these bypolls will certainly
strengthen Scindias position in the BJP at the Centre, a
political analyst said.
However, the BJP suffered some loss in the Gwalior-
Chambal region where two of its ministers, Adal Singh Kansana
(Sumaoli) and Imarti Devi, faced defeat.
The BJP narrowly won Bhander, where its nominee Raksha
Santram Saronia defeated popular Dalit leader Phool Singh
Baraiya by a margin of 161 votes.
Besides, a Scindia”s supporter also lost in Karera in
Shivpuri district.
There are a total of 34 seats in the Gwalior-Chambal
region of which the Congress had won 26 in the 2018 assembly
polls.
“Bypolls were held on 16 seats in this region and
among them Scindias supporters are set to win nine seats
which were earlier with the Congress. That is more than 60-70
per cent (of seats where bypolls were held in the region),
state BJP spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedi said.
Earlier, the Congress had won more than 80 per cent
of these seats because of the Scindia factor, he said.
Scindias supporters won decisively in Bamori,
Mungaoli and Ashok Nagar, assembly segments falling under the
Guna parliamentary constituency, once represented by him.
Among the six ministers who resigned from the Congress
along with Scindia, only Imarti Devi lost in the by-poll.
Others like Silawat, Mahendra Singh Sisodia, Govind
Singh Rajput, Dr Prabhuram Choudhary and Pradyumna Singh Tomar
won decisively from their respective constituencies.
Choudhary won with a huge margin of 63,809 votes –
the highest so far – from the Sanchi (SC) seat.
Elated over the BJPs performance, Chief Minister
Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the outcome proves voters supported
the decision taken by Congress MLAs to pull down the previous
Kamal Nath dispensation.
“It has been proved today that public has supported
the decision taken by our MLA colleagues under the
leadership of Scindia (BJPs Rajya Sabha member Jyotiraditya
Scindia) to pull down the (Nath) government,” Chouhan told
party workers.
He said the BJP has secured 11 per cent more
votes than the Congress and termed it as an “incredible”
achievement.
We won seats with huge margins and lost few with
thin margins. We humbly accept the victory, the CM said.
On the other hand, Nath accepted defeat and said the
party made efforts to reach out to people.
“We accept the mandate. We made every effort to reach
out to voters. I also thank all voters who participated in the
by-elections.
“I hope that the BJP government will take care of the
interest of farmers, provide employment to the youth, maintain
the respect and safety of women,” Nath said in a tweet.
In March, 22 Congress MLAs, mostly loyalists of
Scindia, had resigned from the party and the Madhya Pradesh
Assembly.
This led to the collapse of the Nath government and
cleared the way for the BJP to again come to power.
Scindia and his loyalists joined the BJP, with many of
them becoming ministers in the Chouhan government.
Voting for by-elections on 28 constituencies was held
on November 3 and counting of ballots was taken up on Tuesday.
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Disclaimer :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds. Source: PTI
