Congress wrests Jhabua LS seat, celebrates victory
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Buoyed by victory of grand alliance in Bihar assembly polls, Congress in Madhya Pradesh gave a major jolt to BJP by snatching coveted Ratlam-Jhabua parliamentary seat which chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had made a prestige issue. Congress candidate and former Union minister Kantilal Bhuria trounced BJP's sitting MLA Nirmala Bhuria here by a margin of 88,832 votes. "In Dewas assembly by-poll, BJP retained its seat where Gayatri Raje Puar, the party candidate and widow of late MLA Tukoji Rao Puar defeated her Congress rival Jai Prakash Shastri by a margin of 30,778 votes," said state chief election officer (CEO) Salina Singh in a press conference. Gayatri Raje got the benefit of being a member of Puar dynasty, erstwhile rulers of the region. In both the constituencies BJP was riding on sympathy wave. In Jhabua, by-poll was necessasitized following the death of BJP MP late Dileep Singh Bhuria in June this year and in Dewas after death of Tukoji Rao Puar. Interestingly, Bhuria's victory came after BJP's Bihar drubbing where chief minister Chouhan had reduced the contest into a direct fight between him and Kantilal Bhuria but, the CM lost. Election Commission data show that out of eight assembly constituencies, falling under Ratlam-Jhabua Lok Sabha seat, Congress won seven whil
