MP: BJP wrests 2 seats from Cong, cedes one

Bhopal: The ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday won bypolls to Jobat (SC) and Prithvipur assembly seats by wresting them from Congress but ceded Raigaon (SC) constituency to the opposition party, officials said.

In nutshell, Congress lost both the seats- Jobat (SC) and Prithvipur- held by it before the bypolls but managed to avoid a whitewash by wresting Raigaon (ST) segment from the saffron party. Of the four seats for which byelections were held on Saturday, the Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency and Raigaon Assembly seat were earlier held by BJP.

Meanwhile, in Khandwa, BJP nominee Gyaneshwar Patil has increased his lead over the nearest rival from Congress, Rajnarayan Singh Purni, by 82,140 votes, as per the trends.

The Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after the death of sitting BJP MP Nandkumar Singh Chauhan. Congress candidate from Raigaon (SC) seat in the Satna district, Kalpana Verma, defeated her nearest rival from BJP, Pratima Bagri, by a margin of 12,290 votes. Verma has polled 72,989 votes and Bagri 60,699, an Election Commission official said.

In the Prithvipur assembly seat in the Niwari district, Congress nominee Nitendra Singh Rathore went down fighting against BJP's Shishupal Yadav, who won by a margin of 15,687 votes. Yadav bagged 82,673 votes and Rathore 66,986, another official said. The BJP also wrested Jobat (ST) Assembly constituency in the Alirajpur district from Congress with the saffron party candidate Sulochana Rawat defeating her nearest rival Mahesh Patel by a margin of 6,104 votes.