BHOPAL: Congress candidate Kantilal Bhuria has won the Jhabua bypolls by defeating BJP candidate Bhanu Bhuria with a margin of 27804 votes.
Kantilal got 96155 votes while Bhanu got 68351. BJP won the Jhabua seat during assembly elections. The win on Jhabua seat has raised the number of MLAs of Congress to 115.
Jhabua seat got vacant after JS Damor resigned from the state assembly after he became MP from Ratlam-Jhabua constituency.
Kantilal’s victory has also given Congress a majority in the state assembly. The magic number for majority in 230-member state assembly is 116. Congress has come into majority in the state assembly including the support of independent MLA and mining minister Pradeep Jaiswal.
BJP had been terming Congress government as one of minority after assembly polls but the outcome of Jhabua bypoll has made Chief Minister Kamal Nath strong.
The win was necessary for Nath for the stability of his government. The victory with a huge margin of votes has cleared that the real scenario is different than what is claimed about the image of the government in public.
Kantilal, after winning bypolls, has joined the Congress legislature party (CLP) as the most senior leader after Nath. Kantilal has been an MP for five times and has also won assembly polls thrice.
BJP had launched ex- Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, state president Rakesh Singh, Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and other senior leaders for campaigning in Jhabua but the party could not do well.
People have rectified 5-month old mistake: Nath
CM Kamal Nath, commenting on the win on Jhabua seat, said people have shown their confidence on their government’s work. He said people have rectified their 5-month old mistake. He said they got seven and half month for work in the 10-month old government and have worked to fulfill the promises made to the public. He claimed that people were cheated for 15 years. People are with Congress and disappointed with the BJP. Nath said people have rejected BJP in Haryana and Punjab too and the results are against the BJP.
Freedom from pressure: The MLAs from Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samajwadi Party and independent were pressuring the Kamal Nath government in the name of extending support. The win of Kantilal Bhuria has relieved the government from the pressure of support of other party MLAs. With Congress reaching the figure of 115 seats, its allied parties and independent MLAs would not be able to create undue pressure on the government.
