In a major setback to the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh, party candidate and state Forest Minister Ramniwas Rawat lost to his Congress rival Mukesh Malhotra by more than 7,000 votes on Saturday in the Vijaypur bypoll.
Congress nominee Manoj Rawat, who had previously won the seat in 2017, managed only 18,192 votes (33.42 per cent). Independent candidate Tribhuvan Singh also played a significant role, securing 9,266 votes (17.1 per cent) and reportedly diverting a substantial portion of Congress' voter base.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sunil Soni triumphed in the Raipur South by-election with a commanding margin of 46,167 votes over Congress candidate Akash Sharma. The BJP candidate secured 89,220 votes, nearly doubling Sharma’s tally of 43,053, including a significant edge in postal ballots where the BJP received 161 votes against Congress' 76
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who made her poll debut from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, is headed for a massive victory.
In a prominent battle, Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar is poised to defeat his relative, Yugendra Shrinivas Pawar, with a lead of 43,619 votes after nine rounds of counting.
Both the Congress and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh have been engaged in using every trick to woo voters for the Legislative Assembly elections to be held this year, including making a number of promises in their respective election campaigns.
Rahul Gandhi on Friday was disqualified from the Lok Sabha a day after being sentenced to two years in jail in a defamation case over his 'Modi surname' remark in 2019
Gandhi also faces the risk of being unable to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Unfortunately for him, according to a historic decision of the Supreme Court in 2013, the membership of an MP or MLA, sentenced for two years or more, ends immediately.
Senior Congress leader said if his statement is genuine, Pinarayi Vijayan would not have allowed the police to beat up protestors holding march against the BJP move.
"Samajwadi Party is fighting BJP at every level in UP. It will defeat BJP in Lok Sabha elections," the SP leader said.
