Datia (Madhya Pradesh): Congress defeated the BJP for the second consecutive time in the Datia Assembly by-election, with Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh defeating BJP's Ashutosh Tiwari by 6,056 votes.
The BJP also lost at polling booth number 121, where former Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra is registered as a voter. The Congress secured 291 votes, while the BJP received 264 votes at the booth.
During the 14th round of counting, the Congress secured 6,614 votes, while the BJP received 3,100 votes. The Congress lead also surpassed its winning margin in the 2023 Assembly election. The Azad Samaj Party had secured 20,388 votes till the end of the 13th round.
Congress celebrates in Bhopal
As the counting trends continued to favour the Congress, party workers celebrated by distributing sweets, Melody toffees and bursting crackers at the party's state headquarters in Bhopal.
The Datia Assembly seat fell vacant after Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti was sentenced to two years in prison in a cooperative rural development bank fraud case. In the 2023 Madhya Pradesh Assembly election, Bharti had defeated Narottam Mishra by 7,742 votes.
'Datia exposes true face of MP government'
Reacting to the result, Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Jitu Patwari credited the party's victory to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
"The Datia election reflects Rahul Gandhi's efforts and the issues he has raised across the country. He has become the voice of the youth, farmers, labourers and the poor. The people of Datia have also exposed the true face of the Madhya Pradesh government," Patwari said.
