Madhya Pradesh bypoll: BJP's Ashutosh Tiwari faces Congress rival Ghanshyam Singh
Voting is underway for the by-election to Madhya Pradesh's Datia assembly constituency, where the BJP's Ashutosh Tiwari and the Congress's Ghanshyam Singh are locked in
Voting is underway for the by-election to Madhya Pradesh's Datia assembly constituency, where the BJP's Ashutosh Tiwari and the Congress's Ghanshyam Singh are locked in a direct contest. Polling, which began at 7 am on Thursday, will continue till 6 pm, while the counting of votes is scheduled for August 3, officials said. Election Commission officials said 291 polling stations have been set up in the constituency, where 2,20,344 voters will decide the electoral fate of 21 candidates. Officials said polling began peacefully and voters started arriving at booths from the morning. Read Full Story "Voting started peacefully and in an orderly manner at all polling stations at the scheduled time under the Datia assembly by-election 2026," said Swapnil Wankhede, Collector and District Election Officer.
Of the 291 polling stations, 186 are in rural areas and 105 in urban pockets. The constituency has 1,16,088 male voters and 1,04,246 female voters. Officials said people were enthusiastically exercising their franchise. They added that the State Election Commission and the district administration were fully prepared for the bypoll and had appealed to the public to cast their votes fearlessly. Superintendent of Police Mayur Khandelwal had told PTI on Wednesday evening that security companies had been deployed for polling and a control room had been set up to ensure immediate action on any complaint. He said police were keeping a close watch on suspicious individuals and that strict action would be taken against anyone trying to influence the voting process or disturb law and order.
The ruling BJP has fielded Ashutosh Tiwari, while the Congress has nominated Ghanshyam Singh. Damodar Singh Yadav of the Azad Samaj Party is also in the fray in an attempt to make the contest triangular. Apart from these three, 18 other candidates are also in the contest and, according to political analysts, they could influence the winning and losing prospects of the major parties. In the 2023 assembly elections, Congress' Rajendra Bharti had defeated then Home Minister Narottam Mishra by more than 7,500 votes. However, Bharti was sentenced by a Delhi court to three years' imprisonment in a fraud case in April, leading to his disqualification and making the by-election necessary.
Bharti later got bail. The BJP did not give Narottam Mishra a ticket for this by-election and instead fielded Tiwari, who comes from a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh background. The move had prompted Mishra's supporters to launch a massive protest. The Datia bypoll, held after Bharti's disqualification, began peacefully on Thursday with security arrangements in place, 21 candidates in the fray and a straight BJP-Congress contest at the centre, with counting scheduled for August 3. Ends
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