Congress wins MP bypoll, party hails victory, Chouhan promises more development (Third Lead)

Congress candidate Nilanshu Chaturvedi was on Sunday declared elected to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly from Chitrakoot constituency, defeating his BJP rival by 14,133 votes.

The Congress hailed the victory as an "indication of change", Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav termed it a sign of increasing distrust and resistance of people in the BJP, while Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accepted the result as the people's mandate.

Chaturvedi led right from the start of vote count at 8 a.m. and kept increasing his winning lead, officials said. After 19 rounds of counting, he worsted the Bharatiya Janata Party's Shankar Dayal Tripathi.

According to a statement from the office of the chief electoral officer here, Chaturvedi received 66,810 votes and his BJP rival 52,677 out of the 126,903 votes declared valid.

It said that by the end of the fifth round, Chaturvedi had established a lead of over 10,000 votes over Tripathi and at the end of the tenth, was ahead by 17,959. However, Tripathi then rallied and by the end, had shrunk the lead to 14,133.

The election to the constituency in Satna district was called after the death of sitting Congress legislator Prem Singh. A total of 12 candidates were in the fray including nine independents.

Chouhan said, in a tweet, that he accepted the result as the people's mandate was the real basis of democracy. Thanking the people for their support, he said development works in the area would continue unabated.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted: "The winds of change are in the air. Many thanks to the people of Chitrakoot for their faith and trust in the Congress party."

In his reaction, Akhilesh Yadav said the aftermath of this would be seen in the Gujarat polls too.

"Defeat of BJP in Chitrakoot assembly bypoll is showing the direction of wind. People now have understand the reality of GST and demonetisation. The result is a sign of increasing distrust and resistance of people towards BJP. Now, wind of BJP's defeat will reach Gujarat too," he said in a tweet.

--IANS

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