Samajwadi Party's Kishore Samrite was elected in the Assembly byelection in Lanji constituency in Madhya Pradesh's Balaghat district on Saturday defeating his Bharatiya Janata Party rival Dhareshwari Bhatere by a margin of 3,734 votes.

SP wrests the seat from BJP.

Samrite, who contested the byelection from behind the bars after he was detained in a case of loot and arson following an agitation against a contractor eight months ago, polled a total of 28,779 votes as against 25,045 polled by Bhatere.

Congress candidate Bhagwat Bhau Nagpure came a distant third polling 11,738 votes.

The byelection was necessitated by the death of former minister Dilip Bhatere (BJP), whose wife was fielded by the ruling party in the byelection in a 19-cornered contest.