Madhya Pradesh: Congress' Mukesh Malhotra beats BJP's Ramniwas Rawat in Vijaypur assembly bypoll by 7,364 votes

Bhopal: Congress Candidate Mukesh Malhotra defeated BJP candidate and state cabinet minister Ramniwas Rawat by 7364 votes in Vijaypur assembly bypolls, according to the Election Commission of India.
Malhotra secured 1,00,469 votes while BJP's Rawat managed to get 93,105 votes in the by-elections.
After winning the election, Congress candidate Mukesh Malhotra told ANI, "I give the credit of victory to the people of Vijaypur assembly constituency. Also, I extend my gratitude to my party workers, office-bearers and all the leaders of my party. With the support of these people, I have won the election here."
The Congress party workers celebrated the victory of Vijaypur seats at the state Congress office in Bhopal and distributed sweets on the occasion.
State Congress Chief Jitu Patwari dedicated the victory of Vijaypur assembly seat in Sheopur district to the party workers, stating that they endured all kinds of tortures, faced police lathicharge and lawsuits but still they stood firmly.
"Vijaypur's victory is the victory of only and only Congress workers. The party workers endured all kinds of tortures, faced police lathicharge and lawsuits but still they stood firmly. The entire system was also against the Congress. The BJP was contesting the elections with the backing of goons, dacoits and mafia, yet the Congress workers showed how great the power of truth is," Patwari wrote on his X.
He further wrote, "I bow before each and every worker of the Congress. I give the credit of the victory to Baba Saheb Ambedkar's constitution and Congress workers."
Two assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh which include Vijaypur assembly seat in Sheopur district and Budhni seat in Sehore district underwent by-poll on November 13.
Vijaypur assembly seat in Sheopur district fell vacant after Ramniwas Rawat, who was sitting MLA from the seat from Congress party, quit the grand old party and joined the BJP amid the Lok Sabha elections in April this year. Currently, Rawat is the Forest and Environment Minister in the cabinet of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.
On the other hand, Budhni assembly seat is the bastion of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and it got vacant as he got elected as Member of Parliament (MP) from Vidisha constituency in the recently concluded general election 2024.
BJP candidate Ramakant Bhargava contested from Budhni while congress fielded Rajkumar Patel.
According to the latest data of ECI, status as on round 10 out of 13, BJP nominee Bhargava has been leading with 10142 votes by securing 83,368 votes with Congress' Patel having 73226 votes.