MP bypoll: BJP wrests Maihar assembly seat from Congress

BHOPAL: Dealing a blow to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, ruling BJP today won the Maihar assembly seat in a by-election with party nominee Narayan Tripathi defeating the main opposition party's Manish Patel by a margin of 27,544 votes.

Tripathi secured 82,703 votes while Patel polled 55,159 votes, an election official said.

The outcome came as a double jolt for Congress as Tripathi, after winning the seat in 2013 assembly polls, had quit the party to join BJP during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Later, he resigned from the seat which necessitated the by-poll.

The victory came as a morale-booster for the BJP after it conceded to the Congress the Jhabua Lok Sabha seat in a by-poll shortly after the drubbing in the Bihar Assembly elections, which analysts then took as a sign of declining fortunes of the long-ruling saffron party in the state.

The win in Maihar is expected to enhance the confidence of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh where it heavily relies on the appeal of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

The victory comes just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Sherpur in neighbouring Sehore district on February 18, where farmers will felicitate him for launching new crop insurance scheme.

Buoyed by the by-poll victory, Chouhan said at Sherpur, "I am thankful to the people of Maihar for this victory and will visit the town on February 22 to personally convey my thanks to them."

Chouhan was here to review preperations for Modi's visit on February 18.

For Congress also, the by-poll in Maihar was a prestigious battle as it had won it in 2013 despite BJP getting more than two-third majority in the state assembly.

Traditionally, Maihar in Satna Lok Sabha constituency, is seen as a Congress stronghold.

The BJP, keen on wresting the seat from the Congress, fielded Tripathi himself for the by-election.

Congress also made its best efforts to ensure Tripathi's defeat by fielding Manish Patel, who had joined Congress by quitting Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), seeking to consolidate backward class voters in the Brahmin-dominated seat, a strategy which failed to click.