MP bypolls: BJP leads in 18 seats, Congress in 8; Kamal Nath visits Hanuman temple

MP By-election Result 2020 LIVE Updates: Security has been beefed up at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office in Bhopal after early trends showed BJP leading in 17 seats. Former chief minister Kamal Nath reached the Congress office in the state capital following party’s lead in nine seats. Mayawati’s BSP is leading in one seat. Counting of votes is underway for the Madhya Pradesh by-elections to 28 Assembly seats. While BJP is leading in Sanwer, Suwasra, Nepanagar, Gwalior and 13 other seats, Congress is ahead in Hatpipliya and eight other seats. BSP’s Adal Singh Kansana and BJP’s Girraj Dandotiya are trailing in Morena. The counting started with postal ballots and followed by EVMs. This time more votes have been polled through postal ballots as elderly mostly used the method considering the Covid-19 situation. Also, the method is used more in Gwalior-Chambal as the region sends maximum number of its residents to the armed forces.

The BJP needs to win at least eight of these 28 seats to retain power and attain a simple majority in the 230-member Assembly, whose effective strength is 229. The results will have a bearing on the political future of three regional satraps- Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, his predecessor Kamal Nath and BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia. The political drama in the state that unfolded in the state earlier this year involved these three influential leaders. Ballot papers of covid patients haven’t been counted yet, I have no such information and it is clearly a public vs administration election,” said Congress’ Digvijaya Singh.