BJP wins 16 seats, Shivraj Singh Chouhan govt on firm wicket

The BJP won 16 seats till Tuesday night out of the 28 assembly constituencies where bypolls were held in Madhya Pradesh, giving it a comfortable majority in the House and providing stability to its eight-month-old government in the state.

The results have also come as a shot in the arm for former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who took a big political risk by quitting the Congress and joining the BJP in March.

With most of his loyalists winning the November 3 bypolls, Scindia, a Rajya Sabha MP, will look to cement his place in the BJP.

BJP candidates are leading with comfortable margins in three other assembly seats.

Out of the 28 seats which were up for grabs in bypolls, the ruling BJP has won 16 so far and is leading in three others (Sanver, Jaura and Mehgaon), according to the Election Commission (EC) data.

The opposition Congress has managed to secure victory in seven seats and is leading in two others (Dimani and Gwalior-East) with comfortable margins, the data showed.

In the 230-member House, the BJP tally has increased to 123 (well above simple majority mark of 116) with the addition of these 16 seats, providing stability to the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.