Datia bypoll: Vote counting preparations underway as countdown to result begins

Datia, Aug 2 (AHN) Counting of votes for the Datia Assembly seat by-election in Madhya Pradesh begins on Monday morning, and both the Congress party and the BJP are already confident in their chances of winning. However, the real result will be clear only by the afternoon of August 3, when the voters’ decision is finally revealed.

District Collector Swapnil Wankhede on Sunday inspected the counting centre at Government Polytechnic College. He said polling concluded peacefully with a turnout of 71.40 per cent.

“The voting process was completed without major incidents. Minor issues, if any, were controlled immediately. No disturbance of peace was reported anywhere, and the best part is that no EVM malfunction was reported from the start to the end of polling,” he said.

Official figures later put the final turnout at 71.44 per cent, an 8.76 per cent drop from the over 80 per cent recorded in the 2023 Assembly elections.

For the BJP, the contest offered a chance to reverse its 2023 Assembly defeat, and the party mounted an all-out campaign to reclaim the seat.

Congress, on the other hand, is determined not to surrender the constituency it won in the last general election.

The BJP, which lost the seat in 2023, fielded Ashutosh Tiwari after the party had sidelined former Home Minister Narottam Mishra.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav led the campaign with roadshows, joined by Union Minister and former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Jyotiraditya Scindia and state BJP president Hemant Khandelwal.

Congress, determined to retain the seat it won through Rajendra Bharti in 2023, nominated Ghanshyam Singh. Party leaders, including state president Jitu Patwari, Leader of the Opposition Umang Singhar and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh, campaigned vigorously.

The seat fell vacant after the Rouse Avenue District Court in Delhi convicted Rajendra Bharti in the Cooperative Bank scam case on April 2, sentencing him to three years’ imprisonment and a Rs 1 lakh fine, leading to the termination of his membership.

While the main contest is between Ashutosh Tiwari (BJP) and Ghanshyam Singh (Congress), Azad Samaj Party’s Damodar Singh Yadav is attempting to make it triangular. A total of 21 candidates are in the fray. Monday’s results will decide the new MLA and settle this keenly watched political battle.