Radhavallabh Mishra. Datia14 minutes ago
Counting preparations have been completed at Datia Polytechnic College
Counting for the Datia assembly by-election in Madhya Pradesh will begin shortly. The first trend is expected by 9 AM. The main contest is between BJP’s Ashutosh Tiwari and Congress’s Ghanshyam Singh. Transgender Sanjana, who left government service to enter politics, contested as an independent.
BJP gave the ticket to Ashutosh instead of former Home Minister Narottam Mishra, who lost in the 2023 assembly elections. Meanwhile, Congress’s Ghanshyam comes from the Datia royal family.
Counting will begin at 8 AM with postal ballots, followed by votes recorded in EVMs from 8:30 AM. The counting will be completed in a total of 15 rounds. 21 tables have been set up for counting. 20 tables are for EVMs, while one table is for postal ballots. Approximately 350 officers and staff are involved in the counting.
The team reached Datia Polytechnic College by bus around 5:15 AM for vote counting
1 lakh 57 thousand 473 voters cast their votes
Voting took place in Datia on July 30. Out of a total of 2 lakh 20 thousand 410 voters, 1 lakh 57 thousand 473 cast their votes. 291 polling stations were set up. The voting percentage was 71.44. This is about 9 per cent less compared to the 2023 assembly elections.
During the voting, allegations of fake voting were made in Sirol and Jigna, and an attempt at booth capturing was alleged at booth number-51. Congress polling agent Abhinay Singh Kushwaha was taken away by the police from the Ramsagar polling station, who was later released.
The seat became vacant after Rajendra Bharti’s conviction
The Datia assembly seat became vacant after Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti was sentenced to two years in the Cooperative Rural Development Bank fraud case. In the 2023 assembly elections, Rajendra Bharti had defeated the then Home Minister Dr. Narottam Mishra by 7,742 votes.
Former Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti of Datia Suspended
On Sunday, just one day before the results of the Datia by-election were announced, the Congress took a major organizational step. The party suspended former MLA Rajendra Bharti from primary membership. The order was issued by Congress National General Secretary and Madhya Pradesh in-charge Harish Chaudhary.
In fact, after the voting, Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh had sent a written complaint to party’s national president Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior leaders. He had alleged that Rajendra Bharti worked against the party in the election and indulged in sabotage.
Rajendra Bharti said – Ghanshyam, don’t throw stones at others
Meanwhile, Rajendra Bharti rejected the allegations and called Ghanshyam Singh a coward and timid. He said that Ghanshyam is making such allegations out of fear of potential defeat. Bharti also claimed that Ghanshyam Singh contested the election with the consent and cooperation of former Home Minister Dr. Narottam Mishra.
Rajendra Bharti said – Those who live in glass palaces themselves should give up the habit of throwing stones at others’ houses. Ghanshyam Singh is making fabricated allegations to hide his fear of potential defeat. The people of Datia know who struggled for whom.
