Cong retains one seat, leads other in MP assembly bypoll

The Congress party won one and led in another assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh as the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) trounced the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Odisha’s Bijepur bypoll results announced on Wednesday.

The Congress defeated the BJP by 2,124 votes in Mungaoli and was leading the saffron party in Kolaras by more than 4,000 votes as of 7pm. Both seats were held by the Congress with far higher margins – 20,765 in Mungaoli and 24,953 in Kolaras.

The bypolls in Madhya Pradesh are significant as they are the last electoral test before the state goes to the polls at the end of the year. The Congress is attempting to end the BJP’s three-term rule in the state and is upbeat after winning two assembly bypolls and civic body elections in the past year.

The Congress fielded Mahendra Singh Yadav from Kolaras and Brijendra Singh Yadav from Mungaoli, while the BJP fielded Baisahab Yadav from Mungaoli and Devendra Jain from Kolaras. The bypolls were necessitated by the death of Congress’s Mungaoli MLA Mahendra Singh Kalukheda and its Kolaras MLA Ram Singh Yadav. Both seats are in the Guna Lok Sabha constituency, represented by senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia.

BHOPAL/BHUBANESWAR:

BJD BAGS ODISHA SEAT

In Bijepur, the BJD defeated the BJP by more than 41,000 votes. The BJD’s Rita Sahu, widow of deceased Congress MLA Subal Sahu, bagged 1,02,871 votes while Ashok Panigrahi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got 60,938 votes.The Congress, which held the seat for the last three terms, lost its security deposit. “Humbled by love & trust of the people of #Bijepur for giving @bjd_Odisha a massive victory. BJD lives in the hearts of the people of #Odisha,” tweeted Patnaik.