Datia, Aug 3 (PTI) The Congress on Monday retained the Datia assembly seat, with Ghanshyam Singh trouncing nearest rival Ashutosh Tiwari of the BJP by 6,016 votes in the bypoll held amid students’ stir and differences in the saffron camp after senior leader Narottam Mishra was denied a ticket.
Congress leaders linked the victory to “awakening” among students and other sections of the country, calling it the “beginning of the end of the BJP rule”.
At the end of all 15 rounds of counting, Singh secured 66,757 votes, while Tiwari polled 60,741 votes. Azad Samaj Party candidate Damodar Yadav finished third by bagging 22,527 votes, District Election Officer and Datia District Magistrate Swapnil Wankhade told PTI.
A total of 21 candidates were in the fray, including Ghanshyam Singh and Ashutosh Tiwari.
The bypoll, held on July 30, was necessitated after a Delhi court in April sentenced sitting Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti to three years’ imprisonment in a cheating case, leading to the termination of his Assembly membership.
MP BJP president Hemant Khandelwal said the party would review the poll outcome and take action based on its findings.
“Discipline is paramount in the BJP. All our workers are equal. The party will take action based on the conclusions reached after the review,” he said, hinting at internal sabotage in the BJP camp.
Khandelwal insisted that every BJP worker, irrespective of the position he or she held, was expected to abide by the party’s discipline.
“For the Bharatiya Janata Party, discipline is supreme. Every party worker, regardless of the post they hold, is expected to work within the party’s discipline.
“If anyone is found guilty (of violating discipline), appropriate action will certainly be taken against them,” cautioned Khandelwal, who was appointed the state BJP president in July last year.
His statement is significant given the BJP lagged behind Congress in booth number 121, situated in the area of Narottam Mishra. The Congress candidate received 291 votes and the BJP 264.
In Bhopal, celebrations broke out at the state Congress headquarters with party workers distributing sweets and dancing to the beating of drums.
Earlier in the day, as Tiwari’s defeat loomed, silence descended on the bustling state BJP headquarters.
Putting up a brave front, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said the BJP candidate polled 1,700 more votes compared to the 2023 assembly elections (when Mishra was defeated by Congress’s Bharti).
Pointing out that the Congress had won the Datia seat in the last assembly elections as well, Yadav said, “This is a different matter. We secured 1,700 more votes than in the last assembly elections (in 2023). Along with the 2023 assembly elections, the BJP won all 29 Lok Sabha seats in the state. It is the first time the BJP achieved this feat since Independence.” An elated Ghanshyam Singh declared that the verdict marks the beginning of the end of the BJP’s rule.
His priority would be to promote communal harmony in Datia and end political vendetta.
“I will work to end gambling and betting rackets in the constituency,” the newly-elected Congress leader added.
Congress veteran and former MP chief minister Kamal Nath attributed the electoral win to the hard work of party workers, saying the people of Datia refused to “bow to the pressure of power”.
“This victory is not limited to a by-election. It’s a sign of the change taking place in the country and Madhya Pradesh. Rahul Gandhi has awakened students in the country, and every section of society is agitating (against the BJP),” Nath said.
Alleging that every section of society is troubled by the BJP’s misrule and people are yearning to throw out the “corrupt regime”, Nath said this change has begun from Datia, the city of Maa Pitambara.
Former MP Digvijaya Singh thanked the electorate of Datia and hailed the committed cadres of Congress, who he said didn’t abandon the party despite hardships and chose to endure them.
State Congress President Jitu Patwari described it as a victory for the people of Datia, a clarion call for the 2028 assembly elections, and the result of the collective efforts of Congress leaders.
Patwari told reporters that Datia voters have exposed the corruption, terror, and arrogance of the BJP-led government.
He said the people of Datia have laid the foundation for change and the BJP’s departure, expressing confidence that Congress will return to power after the 2028 assembly elections.
“The people’s mandate shows appreciation of Rahul Gandhi’s leadership. The impact of protests by Gen-Z in the country and Rahul Gandhi’s strong support to students were clearly visible in the elections,” he said, crediting the victory to collective efforts of Congress’s leaders.
He said Rahul Gandhi has “awakened” students in the country, and every section of society is agitating.
Opposition leader Umang Singhar said the bypoll mandate is the result of hard work, struggle, and unity displayed by workers and leaders of Congress.
The bypoll was held amid heartburn among Mishra’s supporters after the party denied him a ticket and picked Ashutosh Tiwari. Mishra’s supporters had clashed with police and blocked a national highway earlier in July.
Mishra later shared a stage with Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, urging party workers to rally behind Tiwari, who replaced him. At Tiwari’s nomination rally in Datia, Mishra turned emotional as senior BJP leaders, including CM Yadav, sought to console him.
Political analyst Rakesh Dixit said the BJP’s defeat was not just a loss of one assembly seat for the ruling party, but a huge setback for the entire party machinery.
Referring to Khandelwal’s emphasis on disciplinary action, Dixit said this is a tacit admission that the BJP suffered the humiliation owing to sabotage.
“Needle of suspicion unmistakably points to Mishra, given his supporters’ revolt in the run-up to the campaign,” he added.
With this win, the Congress tally in the 230-member Assembly has gone up to 65. The BJP has 164 MLAs, while one legislator belongs to a tribal political outfit. PTI MAS BNS LAL GK ARU RSY BNM NSK
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