Datia bypoll: Congress heads for win as Ghanshyam Singh opens up 12,607-vote lead

Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh was on course for victory in the Datia assembly bypoll on Monday, 3 August after opening up a commanding lead of 12,607 votes over BJP rival Ashutosh Tiwari at the end of the 12th round of counting, officials said.

Celebrations broke out at the Madhya Pradesh Congress headquarters in Bhopal as trends showed Singh steadily widening his lead, with party workers distributing sweets. Singh, who had trailed in the first two rounds, overtook Tiwari in the third and continued to extend his advantage through the subsequent rounds.

Election Commission officials said Singh had polled 58,417 votes after 12 of the 15 rounds of counting, while Tiwari had secured 45,810 votes. Azad Samaj Party candidate Damodar Yadav was in third place with 17,489 votes.

With only three rounds of counting remaining, Singh's victory appeared all but certain unless there was a dramatic turnaround. Expressing confidence, Singh told reporters he expected to win the seat by a margin of 12,000 to 15,000 votes.

State Congress president Jitu Patwari credited the party's performance to the collective efforts of its leaders and workers. Addressing reporters, Patwari said the people of Datia had rejected the BJP government's "corruption, terror, and arrogance".

"We will remain grateful to the people of Datia for laying the foundation for change," he said, expressing confidence that the BJP would be voted out of power in the 2028 Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections.

Patwari also credited senior Congress leaders, including former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, his MLA son Jaivardhan Singh, Siddharth Kushwaha, Kamleshwar Patel and several other party functionaries for working extensively during the campaign.

Counting began at 8.00 am at the Polytechnic College in Datia under tight security. The bypoll, held on 30 July, was necessitated after a Delhi court sentenced sitting Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti to three years' imprisonment in a cheating case in April, leading to the termination of his Assembly membership.

A total of 21 candidates contested the by-election, which recorded a voter turnout of 71.44 per cent, although the principal contest was between the Congress and the BJP.

Bharti had won the Datia seat in the 2023 Assembly elections by defeating BJP leader and former state home minister Narottam Mishra by more than 7,700 votes. For the bypoll, the BJP denied Mishra a ticket and instead fielded Ashutosh Tiwari.

With PTI inputs