Congress wins Chitrakoot bypoll by over 14,000 votes

BHOPAL: The Congress on Sunday won the Chitrakoot Assembly bypoll in Madhya Pradesh by a margin of over 14,100 votes. 

Congress candidate Nilanshu Chaturvedi defeated his nearest rival Bharatiya Janata Party's Shankar Dayal Tripathi. Chaturvedi polled 66,810 votes as against Tripathi's 52,677 votes.

Chaturvedi led right from the start of vote count at 8 am and kept increasing his winning lead, Election Commission officials said. He was declared the winner after 19 rounds of counting.

The election was called after the death of Chitrakoot's Congress legislator Prem Singh. A total of 12 candidates were in the fray including nine independents.

Reacting to the victory, Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said it shows the "winds of change" blowing in the political landscape in the country. Taking to Twitter, he thanked the voters for reposing faith in the party.

"The winds of change are in the air. Many thanks to the people of #Chitrakoot for their faith and trust in the Congress party," Surjewala said.