MP by-election victory is sign of change: Congress

The Congress yesterday won an assembly by-election in Madhya Pradesh in a big boost for the party.The party’s candidate Nilanshu Chaturvedi won from Chitrakoot constituency, defeating his Bharatiya Janata Party rival Shankar Dayal Tripathi 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 8am and kept increasing his winning lead, officials said. After 19 rounds of counting, he was declared the winner.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 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 tweeted that he accepted the result as the people’s mandate. Thanking the people for their support, he said development works in the area would continue unabated.Congress spokesman 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, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said the aftermath of this would be seen in Gujarat too.“Defeat of BJP in Chitrakoot assembly by-poll is showing the direction of wind. People now have understood the reality of GST and demonetisation. The result is a sign of increasing distrust and resistance of people towards the BJP. Now, the wind of BJP’s defeat will reach Gujarat too,” he said in a tweet.Chitrakoot is one of the three Congress strongholds – others being Mungaoli and Kolaras - that go to polls ahead of the assembly elections in the state which will be held at the end of next year. The Congress has high hopes of winning the election, owing to what it sees as anti-incumbency against the Chouhan government.The BJP, which has been in power in the state for three straight terms, fought hard to wrest the seat, deploying nearly half of its cabinet to campaign in the area. The chief minister, who led the charge, had camped out in the area for three days, during which he held 23 rallies. Leaders from other states - including Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya - also came to campaign for the election.For the Congress too, it was a prestige battle.The state had been the home turf of late Congress strongman Arjun Singh. His son Ajay Singh, who is also the leader of the opposition, has a huge following in the area. So last year’s defeat in Maihar by-elections had come as a huge embarrassment for the party and questions had been raised about Singh’s clout.