Ramniwas Rawat. (file photo)
The BJP lost the by-election from the Vijaypur assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district. In the state government, Forest Minister and BJP candidate Ramniwas Rawat lost the election. Congress candidate Mukesh Malhotra won by more than 7 votes. After all, what is the reason why, despite being in power, the BJP lost this seat?
traditional venue of congress
Vijaypur is the traditional headquarters of the Congress. Since independence, the BJP has been able to win elections here only once. Ramniwas Rawat has been a Congress member six times. In such a situation, the Congress vote bank remained strong here. In 2023, Congress had won this seat by 18,000 votes.
Desertion is not liked in Chambal
The nature of Chambal is different, people here do not like party change. Ramniwas Rawat of the Congress joined the BJP and became a minister. Despite this, he lost the elections. When Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the BJP along with his followers, many of his followers also lost the assembly elections. The same thing happened this time too. There was anger among the people and Ramniwas Rawat had to face defeat in the elections.
Mukesh Malhotra strong candidate
Mukesh Malhotra contested as an independent candidate in the 2023 assembly elections and secured 45,000 votes. This time the Congress named him its candidate. The tribal vote bank is also with Congress here. Therefore, he benefited and Congress recorded victory from here on.
Scindia did not go to campaign
When Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the BJP from the Congress, he also asked Ramnivas Rawat to come. So Ramniwas Rawat did not join the BJP. Not only this, Ramniwas Rawat also made personal comments about Scindia. For which Scindia was angry with Ram Nivas. This is considered Scindia area, BJP also made him a star activist. But he didn’t go campaigning even for a day. People of Vijaypur say that one of the reasons for the BJP’s defeat was Scindia’s absence.
Jitu Patwari’s hard work paid off
The Congress’s victory in the Vijaypur seat has proven to be a lifeline for PCC chief Jitu Patwari. Jitu Patwari worked hard here. There was a lot of controversy here even on voting day. The administration did not allow Jitu Patwari to enter Sheopur district. Jitu sat at the border and continued to encourage the workers.
BJP also won from Budhni with great difficulty.
Budhni, the traditional seat of former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, also saw a close contest. BJP candidate Ramakant Bhargava won by just 13,000 votes. We say only 13 thousand because Shivraj had won here in 2023 by more than one lakh votes. Rajkumar Patel of Congress has lost the elections again.
