Chhindwara, Jul 10 (PTI) A total of 78.71 per cent turnout was registered in Wednesday’s byelection to Amarwara (ST) constituency in Madhya Pradesh, an official said.
The polling went down by 10 percentage points compared to the 2023 assembly election.
The byelection to this Scheduled Tribes-reserved seat in Chhindwara district was prestigious for both the ruling BJP and opposition Congress as Chhindwara was considered a stronghold of senior Congress leader Kamal Nath until recently.
Congress won Amarwara seat in the 2023 assembly elections, but the BJP’s Vivek Bunty Sahu won the Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat this time by defeating Nath’s son Nakul Nath.
The assembly byelection became necessary after three-time Congress MLA Kamlesh Shah crossed over to the BJP on March 29 this year.
A total of nine candidates were in the fray, but the main contest was between the BJP which fielded Kamlesh Shah, Congress’s Dheeran Shah Invati and Gondwana Gantantra Party’s (GGP) Devraman Bhalavi.
The turnout stood at 78.71 per cent, returning officer Shilendra Singh told reporters.
As much as 80 per cent of men and 77.40 percent of women voters exercised their franchise, he said.
In the 2023 polls, Amarwara had recorded 88.63 per cent polling.
Counting of votes will take place on July 13.
The GGP won the Amarwara seat once in 2003. The Congress had won the seat nine times while the BJP had emerged victorious in Amarwara in 1972, 1990 and 2008. PTI COR MAS KRK
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