Madhya Pradesh bypolls: BJP leads in 16 of 28 Assembly seats

Counting for the 28 Assembly seats of Madhya Pradesh, where bypolls were held on November 3, started at 8 am on Tuesday. Out of the 28, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading in 16, while Congress is leading in seven and Bahujan Samaj Party (BJP) in one seat, according to the Election Commission’s (EC) website.

Minister Adal Singh Kansana of BJP is trailing in Sumaoli. He was one of the 22 Congress MLAs who joined BJP following the resignation of the former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindhia. Another minister Girraj Dandotiya is trailing in the Dimani seat, where the Congress candidate has taken the lead.

25 former Congress MLAs switch sides

22 out of the 28 seats fell vacant following resignations of Congress MLAs in March 2020, which led to the falling of former Chief Minister Kamal Nath-led government. The MLAs followed former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who left Congress and joined the BJP.

Three more MLAs followed suit and switched to the BJP. The remaining seats fell.

In the 2018 Assembly election in Bihar, Congress had won 114 seats, two seats short of a majority in the 230-member house. With the support of four independents, two Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLAs and one Samajwadi Party MLA, it came to power and senior leader Kamal Nath became the CM.

However, 15 months into power, 25 of its MLAs resigned that led to Nath’s government to fall and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan became the CM for the fourth time. 

The BJP currently has 107 MLAs and needs to win nine seats for the CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s government to remain in power.

Similarly, Congress needs to win all the seats to come back to power.