In a see‑saw contest, Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh held a narrow lead of 1,786 votes over BJP’s Ashutosh Tiwari after the sixth round of counting on Monday in the Datia assembly by‑election in Madhya Pradesh, officials said.
In the initial couple of rounds, Tiwari was ahead of Singh.
After the completion of the sixth of 15 rounds of counting, Singh secured 25,856 votes, while Tiwari bagged 24,070 votes, the officials said.
The counting of votes commenced at 8 am at the Polytechnic College under tight security.
The ECI will announce the results on its official website at https://results.eci.gov.in/ResultAcByeAugust2026/index.htm
Key contest
The main contest is widely seen as being between BJP candidate Ashutosh Tiwari and Congress nominee Ghanshyam Singh. A total of 21 candidates, including Damodar Singh Yadav of the Azad Samaj Party, are in the fray.
The BJP denied a ticket to former state home minister Narottam Mishra, who had lost the Datia seat to Congress candidate Rajendra Bharti in the 2023 Assembly elections. Tiwari's candidature had caused heartburn among Mishra's supporters.
Why was the bypoll held?
The bypoll was necessitated after a Delhi court in April sentenced Rajendra Bharti to three years' imprisonment in a cheating case, leading to the termination of his Assembly membership. Bharti was later granted bail.
Voter turnout
Datia recorded a voter turnout of 71.41% in the by-election, lower than the 80% turnout registered during the 2023 Assembly polls.
Campaign focus
The BJP centred its campaign on development, with Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan leading the party's outreach. Addressing an election rally at Basai, Chouhan expressed confidence that Ashutosh Tiwari would win comfortably and said the "double-engine" governments at the Centre and in Madhya Pradesh are committed to development.
The Congress campaigned extensively in rural areas to retain the seat. Senior leaders, including Digvijaya Singh, state Congress chief Jitu Patwari, Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar and Jaivardhan Singh, canvassed for Ghanshyam Singh.
Addressing a rally, Singhar alleged that farmers were upset over crop losses and fertiliser shortages, while the OBC community was dissatisfied over the issue of 27% reservation. He claimed the Congress was receiving support from all sections and expressed confidence that Ghanshyam Singh would emerge victorious.
Azad Samaj Party president and Lok Sabha MP Chandrashekhar Azad also addressed public meetings at Basai and Udgawan during the final phase of campaigning.
Election arrangements
Ahead of the bypoll, seven officers of the inspector and sub-inspector ranks were transferred from Datia to the police headquarters in Bhopal on the directives of the Election Commission to ensure free and fair polling.
Assembly strength
In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the BJP has 164 MLAs, the Congress 64 and the Bharat Adivasi Party one legislator.
2023 election result
In the 2023 Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, Congress candidate Rajendra Bharti defeated BJP leader Narottam Mishra by more than 7,500 votes from the Datia constituency.
