BJP win both seats in Madhya Pradesh
By IANSThursday, February 17, 2011
BHOPAL - Madhya Pradesh’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday won both the assembly seats of Kukshi and Sonkatch which had been held by the Congress for the past two decades.
BJP’s Mukam Singh Kirode won the by-election in Kukshi by 16,116 votes, defeating Nisha Singhar of the main opposition Congress, an official said. Kukshi is in Dhar district.
In Sonkatch, in Dewas district, Rajendra Verma won by over 19,000 votes, defeating Arjun Verma of the Congress, Joint Chief Election Commissioner Gyaneshwar Patil told IANS.
Kirode is the husband of Ranjana Singh Baghel, a cabinet minister in Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s government.
The results are a major blow to the Congress, which had won every assembly election from Sonkatch and Kukshi in the past two decades.
Chief Minister Chouhan was jubilant. “It shows that people have faith in us.”
State BJP president Prabhat Jha attributed the win to good governance.
“It is also a slap on the face of Congress leaders who were misguiding the people over farmers’ issue,” he said.
A disappointed Congress leader and central minister Jyotiraditya Scindia accused the state government of misusing the official machinery in the elections.
But he added: The Congress has to find out the reasons for the defeat.”
With this, the BJP’s strength in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly has risen to 145 while that of the Congress declined to 69.
