Congress wins bypoll in MP, sees winds of change'

Bhopal/New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday retained the Chitrakoot Assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh by defeating the BJP in the byelection by a margin of 14,333 votes. The Opposition Congress hailed the victory as a signal of the “winds of change” blowing in the country’s political landscape ahead of the crucial Gujarat Assembly polls next month.

Congress candidate Nilanshu Chaturvedi secured 66,810 votes against BJP nominee Shankar Dayal Tripathi’s 52,677 in a contest necessitated by the death of sitting Congress MLA Prem Singh, 65, in May this year.

Taking to Twitter, Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala thanked voters for reposing faith in the party. “The winds of change are in the air. Many thanks to the people of #Chitrakoot for their faith and trust in the Congress party,” Mr Surjewala said.

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, billed as the Madhya Pradesh chief ministerial candidate of the party in the 2018 Assembly elections, termed the bypoll result a reflection of the disenchantment of the people with the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.

“It is clear from the Chitrakoot victory, which comes after the party’s victory in Ater Assembly byelection a month ago, that MP wants to get rid of the BJP’s misrule,” he said.

Mr Chouhan, however, tried to underplay the BJP defeat. “It is a traditional seat of the Congress, which won the seat in the 2013 Assembly elections defying the pro-BJP wave,” he said. He, however, said that his party would review the byelection’s outcome.

State BJP president Nand Kumar Chouhan shared the chief minister’s view, saying that barring the 2008 Assembly elections, the Chitrakoot seat has remained with the Congress since Independence.

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Ajey Singh, who was in-charge of electioneering in the byelection, said: “The victory of the Congress in Chitrakoot byelection has set the tone for the party to return to power in MP in 2018.”