MP Assembly Bypolls: 18 Out of 25 Turncoats Win Seats, BJP MLAs Up to 126

Bhopal: The Assembly bypoll results of Madhya Pradesh have put a stamp on former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia's switch to the BJP with his 25 loyal MLAs.

Of the 25 Congress defectors, who were given tickets by the BJP in bypolls, 18 have won with an average margin of 11%. While seven turncoats have lost, including Imarti Devi from Dabra, who had recently been in the news following former CM Kamal Nath’s derogatory remark. 

Last year, accusing the Kamal Nath led Congress' government of betraying the people's trust and not fulfilling the promise made in the 2018 election manifesto, former union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had switched to the BJP with 22 of his loyal MLAs. This had put the Congress government in minority, leading to its fall within 15 months of being elected in March 2020. Later, three other MLAs had also followed Scindia.

The saffron party has now won 19 seats out of total 28 bypoll seats, while the opposition Congress, who was hoping to return to power, managed only nine seats. 

In the Gwalior-Chambal region, a stronghold of Jyotiraditya Scindia, the BJP has won a whopping nine seats out of 16 seats of the region, while Congress who had swept the entire region in 2018, won seven seats.

In Sanwer (Indore), Scindia's closest aide and BJP candidate Tulsiram Silawat trounced another turncoat Premchand Guddu, with a margin of 38,000 votes. Guddu, who is a former BJP MP from Ujjain had switched to the Congress months before the bypolls. While another close aide of Scindia and former minister Govind Singh Rajput from Surkhi Assembly seat (Sagar) won with a margin of 41,000 votes against Congress’ Parul Sahu. Sahu is a former BJP MLA from Surkhi Assembly seat who, too, had joined Congress months before the bypolls.

On the seven seats of Malwa region, a stronghold of BJP and the RSS, the Congress managed to wrench the Agar seat after decades of attempts. Congress youth leader and president of the student wing Vipin Wankhede won Agar with a margin of 1,998 votes. He had lost the same seat in the 2018 Assembly election with a similar margin.

9 Out of 12 Minister Won

Out of 12 ministers who were in the poll fray, nine emerged victorious while three ministers, Adal Singh Kansana from Sumawali, Griraj Dandotia from Dimni and Imarti Devi from Dabra have lost with a margin of 10,974 votes, 26,467 and 7,633 votes, respectively.

Women & Child Development Minister Imarti Devi lost with a margin of 7,663 votes against her in-law and Congress Suresh Raje. In the 2018 Assembly elections, she had won with a margin of 50,000 votes.

Health Minister and BJP candidate from Sanchi Assembly seat Prabhuram Choudhury has won with the highest margin of 63,809 votes. While his fellow partyman and Labour Minister Mahendra Singh Sisodiya from Bamori Assembly seat won with 53,153 votes, second highest winning margin.

The bypolls also witnessed a cut throat fight on three seats. In Bhander, dalit leader Phul Singh Baraiya of Congress lost with merely 161 votes, while on Agar seat Congress's candidate Vipin Wankhede won with 1,998 votes. 

With the bypolls, the BJP has increased its MLAs to 126 (10 above majority mark of 116) in the 230 seat Assembly, while Congress has come down to 96. The BSP and SP already have two and one MLA respectively. There are four independent candidates.

Commenting over the mandate, Congress president Kamal Nath tweeted, “I accept people’s mandate and will play the role of opposition. We tried our best to convey our message to the people and hope that the BJP government will continue welfare schemes for the poor, provide jobs to youths and ensure women’s security.”