MP by-polls: Rahul Gandhi slams BJP, calls Congress' win a victory of hope

"Arrogance and misgovernance" led to the loss of BJP in Madhya Pradesh,  Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted on Thursday. 

The Congress chief was reacting to the Party'victory in two by-polls in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, which was pitched as a semifinal to the state Assembly election slated for later this year

Congratulating people of Madhya Pradesh and Congress workers, the Congress chief further said that first Rajasthan and now Madhya Pradesh has proven that the prospect of change is knocking at the doors. 

Congress won the Mungaoli and Kolaras Assembly seats by over 2,000 votes and 8,000 votes, respectively.

"The BJP has failed to win two by-elections but is claiming that it will win over 200 seats in the year-end Assembly polls... The results show that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has lost people's faith," said an elated Ajay Singh, leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly.

Mungaoli was won by Brijendra Singh Yadav while the Kolaras seat was won by Mahendra Singh Yadav.

However, BJP has some reasons to cheer, as it was successful in bringing down the Congress' victory margin significantly. In 2013, the Congress had won the Kolaras seat by a margin of 24,953 votes and Mungaoli by 20,765 votes.

The byelection was also being seen as a prestige battle between CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is expected to be his party's CM face in the upcoming Assembly election. Both the leaders had campaigned extensively in the constituencies.

The wins, which come after the Congress' by-poll victories in Rajasthan, is expected to be a morale booster for the party, facing a draught of sorts for the past 15 years in the state.

A total of 22 candidates from Mungaoli and 13 from Kolaras were in the fray for the February 24 polls.

The assembly seats fell vacant after the death of sitting Congress MLAs Mahendra Singh Kalukheda (Mungaoli) and Ram Singh Yadav (Kolaras).

Congress, though, had some bad news coming from Odisha. The party lost the Bijepur Assembly seat to Biju Janata Dal. The seat was earlier held by a Congress candidate. BJP's Ashok Panigrahi took the 2nd spot.