BHOPAL: Allegations, claims and counterclaims came on expected lines after the results of by-elections were declared on Tuesday. As the BJP claimed that it broke Congress strongholds of Prithvipur and Jobat and won the two seats; the Congress termed the results as defeat of ruling BJP as 2 out 3 candidates who won were imported from other parties.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan termed the win in Jobat and Prithvipur as miraculous. “In Prithvipur, in 2018 we got 12,000 votes and BJP stood at fourth place. Similarly in Jobat, BJP was termed as an anti-tribal party. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, we lost here by 18,000 votes. But people understood us and showered their love and blessings on BJP,” said Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh along with BJP State President VD Sharma celebrate as party leading in State by-polls, at BJP State headquarters in Bhopal, Tuesday | FP
Chouhan said that Narendra Modi is a global leader and people of Madhya Pradesh love and respect him immensely. It was because of the Central and State BJP government’s welfare schemes that changed the lives of people and that is why people voted for us, said Chouhan.
As far as defeat in Raigaon assembly is concerned, I think in absence of BSP, its votes were transferred to the Congress. We will contemplate on the factors and try to win the hearts of people again, added CM.
BJP candidate in Prithvipur assembly constituency Shishupal Yadav defeated Congress candidate Nitendra Singh Rathore. | FP
‘We contested against BJP,its money power and misuse of govt machinery': Congress has said that it contested not only against the BJP but also against its money power, hooliganism and their misuse of government machinery. “BJP had misused the government machinery besides spending money like water. It violated the poll code and distributed money, liquor and threatened Congress workers on the field,” alleged state PCC Chief Kamal Nath. BJP workers captured booths on the day of polling and stopped Congress workers from voting, he said, adding that polling agents of Congress were threatened with dire consequences and misused the administration utmost. Despite all these factors Congress managed to win the Raigaon seat. Nath said that the party will contemplate on the reasons and plan better for the 2023 elections.
In Raigaon, Congress candidate Kalpana Verma secured 72989 votes against BJP candidate Pratima Verma’s 60699 votes | FP
Media coordinator of Congress, Narendra Saluja said that the results depicted defeat of BJP. “In 3 assembly seats, the BJP contestant in Jobat was imported from Congress and in Prithvipur the BJP candidate was brought from the Samajwadi Party (SP). On the third seat in Raigaon, BJP fielded its own candidates and lost the election,” said Saluja, summing up the results.
