Madhya Pradesh by-polls: BJP wins Bandhavgarh, Congress leading in Ater

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday won the Bandhavgarh assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh, while the Congress is leading in Ater as ballots cast in the two by-polls is still progressing.

According to Umaria district's Public Relations Officer C.L. Patel, counting of votes has concluded in Bandhavgarh and BJP candidate Shivnarayan Singh has emerged the winner, defeating Savitri Singh of the Congress by 25,476 votes.

While the BJP candidate polled 74,356 votes, Savitri Singh could gather 48,880 votes, he said.

In Bhind district's Ater constituency, Congress candidate Hemant Katare is leading the BJP's Arvind Singh Bhadoria by 6,497 votes after 15 of the scheduled 21 rounds of vote counting.

The BJP was also tailing in postal ballot count.

There were 21 candidates in the fray in Ater, while five contested in Bandhavgarh.

Around 60 per cent voter turnout was reported in Ater during the polling on Sunday while the voting percentage was 65 in Bandhavgarh.

The Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) was used with the electronic voting machines (EVMs) in both the by-polls.

The Ater assembly seat fell vacant following the death of sitting legislator Satyadev Katare of the Congress, while the by-poll in Bandhavgarh was necessitated after its legislator Gyan Singh was elected to the Lok Sabha in November by-election last year.

--IANS

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