Madhya Pradesh by-polls: BJP wins Bandhavgarh, Congress wins Ater (Third Lead)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Bandhavgarh assembly constituency and the Congress won from Ater in the Madhya Pradesh by-polls as ballot counting came to a close on Thursday.

According to Umaria district's Public Relations Officer C.L. Patel, BJP candidate Shivnarayan Singh has defeated Savitri Singh of the Congress by 25,476 votes in

Bandhavgarh.

Of the 135,304 votes polled, the BJP candidate garnered 54.95 per cent (74,356) while Savitri Singh polled 36.13 per cent (48,880 votes), he said.

In Bhind district's Ater, after initially tailing BJP candidate Arvind Singh Bhadoria, Congress' Hemat Katare won by a close margin of 867 votes.

Of the 123,368 votes polled, Bhadoria got 48.01 per cent (59,228) while Katare got 47.31 per cent (58,371).

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 seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent Satyadev Katare of the Congress, while the by-poll in Bandhavgarh was necessitated after the BJP's Gyan Singh was elected to the Lok Sabha last November in by-election.

--IANS

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