BJP wins one seat in Madhya Pradesh by-polls
By IANSThursday, February 17, 2011
BHOPAL - The ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh Thursday won the by-poll in Kukshi assembly constituency and was leading in Sonkatch, both considered as opposition Congress party’s strongholds.
The BJP’s Makam Singh Kirode won the by-election in Kukshi by 16,651 votes defeating Congress’ Nisha Singhar, an election official said.
“We are yet to get the detailed report, but on Kukshi seat we have been informed that Mukam Singh Kirode has won the election,” 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.
In Sonkatch, Rajendra Verma of the BJP is leading the Congress’ Arjun Verma by over 19,000 votes, an official said.
The Congress has won every assembly election from Sonkatch in the past two decades.
Jubilant state BJP president Prabhat Jha attributed the win to the good governance of Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his cadres, “It is also a slap on the face of Congress leaders who were misguiding the people over farmer’s issue in the state.”
Kirode also gave credit to the ruling BJP government and said he won “because of the (good) work of the BJP government”.
The by-polls were held Feb 14. In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly, the BJP has 143 members and the Congress has 71.
