The Hindu : National : Chauhan wins Budhni by-poll

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 07, 2006

National

National

Chauhan wins Budhni by-poll

Staff Correspondent

Shivraj Singh Chauhan receives a certificate from Electoral Officer and District Collecter Raghvendra Singh at Sehore on Saturday. His wife Sadhna Singh Chauhanis is also present. — Photo: PTI

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has won the Budhni by-election defeating his nearest Congress rival Rajkumar Patel by a margin of 36, 525 votes.

At the end of counting, the BJP leader's tally was 66, 689 votes against Mr. Patel's 30,164. The remaining 14 candidates in the fray, including Gulzar Singh Markam of Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), who received 7,900 votes, and Narmada Prasad of the Samajwadi Party, who got barely 894 votes, lost their deposit.

Significantly, the former chief minister, Uma Bharti, who has now parted ways with the Bharatiya Janata Party and formed her own party, had backed and even campaigned for the GGP candidate.

The Assembly by-election was also contested by 12 Independents. Two of them received more votes than the Samajwadi Party candidate. One of them, Santosh Gaur, received 2,085 votes and another, Shriram Neta, bagged 1,284 votes.

The Budhni by-election was in the news as there were complaints from the Congress and GGP side of the ruling party candidate violating the model code of conduct.

Unruffled by these charges, Mr. Chauhan changed his strategy in the final stages of electioneering and adopted a low profile. He started covering the constituency on foot. Mr. Chauhan had told this Correspondent during the course of his campaign that the "false" complaints against him came as a boon since he was able to meet more people face to meet during his "padyatra."

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