Congress wins Chitrakoot Assembly bypoll

Around 65% voting was recorded in the bypoll election which was conducted on November 9.

The Congress on Sunday retained the Chitrakoot Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh, with its candidate Nilanshu Chaturvedi winning the bypoll with an improved margin of 14,133 votes.

Mr. Chaturvedi polled 66,810 votes, while his nearest rival, Shankar Dayal Tripathi of the BJP, got 52,677 votes. As many as 2,455 votes were polled under the ‘none of the above’ (NOTA) category. The bypoll on November 9, following the death of sitting Congress MLA Prem Singh, saw a voter turnout of 65%.

Describing the victory as “winds of change,” several senior Congress leaders took to twitter to thank the voters.“My gratitude to the people of Chitrakoot and congratulations to the candidate and the workers. The Chitrakoot victory clearly proves that the people want freedom from the misrule of the BJP,” tweeted Jyotiraditya Scindia, senior leader from the State.

The Congress’ communication chief Randeep Surjewala said the victory signalled the change in political mood in the country. “The winds of change are in the air. Many thanks to the people of #Chitrakoot for their faith and trust in the Congress party,” he tweeted.

According to Hindu mythology, Lord Ram along with Sita and his brother Lakshman spent 12 years of his exile in the forests of Chitrakoot.

Taking a cue from mythology, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath, MP from Chindwara, tweeted, “This verdict is the beginning of the exile for the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. Neither the BJP nor Shivraj can now stop the Congress’ victory chariot.’ ”