Bhopal: In a major setback to the BJP close on the heels of its drubbing in Bihar, its candidate Nirmala Bhuria was on Tuesday trounced by Kantilal Bhuria of Congress in the bypoll in Ratlam-Jhabua (ST) Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh, which the saffron party won in 2014.
However, the BJP, in power in the state, retained the Dewas Assembly seat. Nirmala Bhuria, daughter of Dileep Singh Bhuria, whose death necessitated the bypoll, lost to former Union Minister Kantilal Bhuria, who wrested the tribal-dominated seat from the BJP by a convincing margin of 88,832 votes, the Returning Officer said.
Buoyed by his victory, Kantilal said, “It is a victory of voters. The wave of BJP’s defeat started from Jhabua would spread to the entire state and in the country. “The by-polls were a direct contest between me and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan,” Kantilal said. The by-election was being seen as crucial for the BJP following its rout in Bihar.
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