Madhya Pradesh by-polls: Counting begins. Will Scindia win prestige battle?
What's the story
Besides Bihar, the results of by-polls for 58 seats, spread across 11 states, will be declared today as counting began a short while ago. Among the states, Madhya Pradesh has emerged as the one garnering the maximum attention with the elections turning into a prestige battle for Congress' turncoat Jyotiraditya Scindia.
28 seats went into polls in the central state.
Here's more.
Numbers
22 of 28 seats linked to Scindia's decision
Out of the 28 seats, 22 became vacant after Scindia switched sides. In March, the celebrated Congress leader, along with over a dozen of his loyalists, ditched the grand old party to join BJP.
His exit paved the path for Kamal Nath's ouster from the CM's office, and return of Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
BJP had lost the 2018 Assembly polls by a thin margin.
Results
Results will not affect Chouhan's government
A chunk of the MP seats, up for grabs, falls in the Gwalior-Chambal region, which is traditionally a bastion of the Scinidias — a royal family.
However, the outcome of these polls won't have any effect on Chouhan's chair, as Congress should win all 28 seats to pose a challenge to BJP.
Hence, the by-polls have become a ego contest between Scindia and Congress.
Controversies
Nath's "item" remark dominated headlines for days
The campaigning for MP was shrouded in controversy, the biggest concerning Nath's "item" remark. The former CM used the derogatory word for BJP's Imarti Devi, and was eventually pulled up by the Election Commission.
The poll body also removed him as "star-campaigner" but the Supreme Court stayed the order.
To note, a total of 355 candidates are in the fray in MP.
Uttar Pradesh
Results for Kuldeep Sengar's seat will also be announced
The results will also be announced for seven seats of Uttar Pradesh, where by-polls happened. Among these seats is the Bangarmau one, which was held by BJP's expelled leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who is accused of raping a woman.
Elections were necessitated in Ghatampur after state minister Kamal Rani Varun died of coronavirus.
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad also made his electoral debut.
Details
In Karnataka, former allies are facing one another
The results of eight seats in Gujarat are also expected today. These seats became vacant after Congress members jumped over to BJP.
In Karnataka, results will be pronounced for Sira in Tumakuru district and Rajarajeshwarinagar in Bengaluru. While BJP's government will remain undeterred after the results, the contest between former allies JD(S) and Congress has grabbed attention.
Results
Result expected for Bihar's Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha seat
Results will also be out for two seats in Odisha, Marwahi seat in Chhattisgarh, two in Nagaland, two in Jharkhand, one in Haryana, and the Dubbak seat in Telangana.
Five seats in Manipur also went to polls after Congress incumbents switched over to BJP.
The lone Lok Sabha seat whose results will be out is the Valmiki Nagar seat in Bihar.