Bhopal: By winning the high-stakes by-election to the Datia constituency in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress has cocked a snook at the ruling BJP, which had played with fire by denying a ticket to former Home Minister Narottam Mishra, whose supporters had turned violent to express their anger against the party high command.
The loss of one seat is not numerically significant for the ruling party, which enjoys a comfortable majority of 164 seats in the 230-member assembly, but will psychologically damage it. In contrast, the victory will be a morale booster for the Opposition party, which currently has 64 members in the house.
The former home minister, who once fancied his chances for the highest political job in the state, was so confident of getting a ticket that he had started campaigning before the party declared its candidate. The disqualification of Congress MLA Rajendra Bharati after his conviction in a corruption case had necessitated the by-election. The official machinery had moved so quickly to declare the seat vacant that it had raised eyebrows. Bharati had defeated Mishra in 2023.
When the BJP high command announced the name of Ashutosh Tiwari, a newcomer with an RSS background, Mishra, who was keen on returning to the assembly, was crestfallen. His angry supporters blocked traffic and attacked government vehicles and policemen, but the party didn’t budge. Apparently, the party relied on a survey showing Mishra was unlikely to win again. The image of a tearful Mishra, vowing to throw his weight behind the official nominee, went viral.
Ironically, Mishra remained in focus, with Bharati and Ghanashyam Singh, the Congress candidate, accusing each other of being in cahoots with the BJP leader. The Congress suspended Bharati on the eve of counting. Even the BJP kept a watch on the former home minister and his supporters, wary of a possible sabotage to avenge the eleventh-hour snub.
The votes were cast on July 30. At 71.44 per cent, the polling percentage was nine per cent less than in 2023. Urban pockets saw significantly less voter turnout than rural parts of the constituency.
The Mohan Yadav-led BJP government also appeared keen to defuse the farmers’ agitation before the bypoll, moving swiftly to accept key demands. Yet the conciliatory approach failed to translate into an electoral advantage in Datia.
Congress Finds Momentum as BJP’s Full Campaign Falls Short
When counting began early on Monday, Mishra and the BJP sounded confident with initial trends. However, the trend soon changed, and the Congress candidate remained ahead till the end. While the result is a setback for the new BJP president, Hemant Khandelwal, it simultaneously provided a breather to Congress president Jitu Patwari.
Patwari campaigned extensively with other state leaders. Despite factional fights, the Congress managed to get its act together. But it was the ruling party that tried to leave nothing to chance. From former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia to CM Mohan Yadav, the BJP roped in its top state leadership but couldn’t wrest the seat from the Opposition party. Damodar Singh Yadav of Azad Samaj Party, the third candidate in the fray, also got considerable votes.
For the BJP, the defeat is unlikely to alter the Assembly’s arithmetic, but it dents the perception of electoral invincibility. For the Congress, it offers a much-needed psychological boost ahead of future political battles.
The Datia verdict was not the only bypoll result to attract political attention. In Bihar, Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party registered its first major electoral breakthrough by winning the high-profile Bankipur Assembly by-election, marking a significant milestone for the fledgling outfit ahead of the Assembly elections. The victory strengthens Kishor’s claim that his party can emerge as a credible alternative to both the NDA and the RJD-led Opposition, while signalling that Bihar’s political landscape may be opening up to new players after decades of bipolar politics. Though a single bypoll is no predictor of the next Assembly election, the result is expected to boost Jan Suraaj’s organisational confidence and inject fresh uncertainty into the state’s evolving electoral contest.
In Gujarat, meanwhile, the BJP retained the Manjalpur Assembly seat by a comfortable margin, reinforcing its organisational dominance in one of its strongest bastions even as it suffered a symbolic setback in Madhya Pradesh.
