Cong, BJP share honours in LS bypolls in MP

Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh and main opposition Congress on Sunday shared honours in Lok Sabha bypolls by wresting Sidhi and Gwalior seats from each other while the saffron party retained Udaipura assembly constituency.

As the March 8 bypoll results were declared, BJP's Yashodhararaje Scindia recorded a win over nearest Congress rival Ashok Singh in Gwalior with a margin of 36,474 votes.

Scindia, a member of Gwalior's royal family, polled 213,583 votes against Singh's 177,109 votes.

The last Lok Sabha election for the seat had seen BJP's Jaibhan Singh Pavaiyya lose by over 35,800 votes to Ramsewak Singh of Congress.

In Sidhi, Congress candidate Manik Singh secured a win by a narrow margin of 1,586 votes against BJP's Kunwar Singh amidst high drama and rejection of a demand by the saffron party for repolling in four polling booths and recounting of votes.

Congress polled 2,12,998 votes, while BJP finished second with 1,11,412 votes. Surprisingly, Gondwana Ganatantra Party President Heera Singh Markam and BSP's Anante Singh made their presence felt with 71,946 and 42,107 votes respectively.

In the previous poll in Sidhi, the BJP candidate had won by 53,000 votes.

The annoucement of Sidhi result was preceded by an hour-long drama when BJP alleged vogus voting in four polling booths in Churhat area and asked the Returning Officer to order fresh polling in Bhopal.

After an hour-long closed-door meeting with poll observers and district collector, Returning Officer Sukhveer Singh said, "Their demand was rejected as representatives of candidates at the polling booths never raised the objection when votes were being cast".