Datia (MP), Aug 3 :The Congress retained the Datia Assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh on Monday as its candidate, Ghanshyam Singh, defeated the BJP's Ashutosh Tiwari by 6,016 votes in the bypoll, according to the Election Commission of India.

 

Ghanshyam Singh polled 66,757 votes (42.39 per cent), while Tiwari secured 60,741 votes (38.57 per cent). Azad Samaj Party’s candidate Damodar Yadav finished a distant third with 22,527 votes (14.30 per cent).

 

The Congress maintained its lead through most of the counting process. By the ninth round, Singh had opened a lead of 9,519 votes. Although the BJP narrowed the gap in the later rounds, the Congress candidate maintained his advantage to seal the victory.

 

Reacting to the verdict, Ghanshyam Singh described it as a mandate in favour of the Congress and expressed confidence that it would pave the way for the party's return to power in the state.

 

"This is a victory of the people, a victory of trust and a victory of the Congress party. It reflects the people's desire for change in Madhya Pradesh. The process has begun today, and the Congress will form the government in 2028," Singh told reporters after the results were declared.

 

After the defeat, BJP candidate Ashutosh Tiwari said the party would review the outcome and identify the reasons behind the result.

 

“We will analyse the reasons for the defeat. Those who call the BJP their 'mother' have betrayed the party,” Tiwari told reporters at the counting centre, in an apparent reference to internal dissidence during the campaign.

 

The bye-election witnessed political developments in both the BJP and the Congress. While the BJP fielded Tiwari in place of senior leader Narottam Mishra, the Congress suspended former MLA Rajendra Bharti from the party's primary membership a day before counting over alleged anti-party activities.

 

Congress Media Department Chairman, Mukesh Nayak, credited the victory to the leadership of state Congress President Jitu Patwari and the party's organisational campaign.

 

“Under the leadership of Jitu Patwari, the Congress won this election. The party selected the right candidate, and Patwari united workers at every level. He visited nearly 250 polling booths, worked tirelessly, met people and mobilised party workers throughout the campaign,” Nayak said talking to IANS in Bhopal.

 

The victory enabled the Congress to retain the Datia seat despite the political turbulence surrounding the bye-election, while the BJP failed to reclaim a constituency it had lost in the 2023 Assembly polls.

 

The bypoll was necessitated after the Datia Assembly seat fell vacant following the disqualification of Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti after his conviction in a cooperative rural development bank fraud case. Bharti had defeated then Home Minister Narottam Mishra by 7,742 votes in the 2023 Assembly elections, giving the Congress the seat after a gap.