Cong, BJP hold meetings to gauge Ratlam-Jhabua poll result

Though the Congress and BJP have claimed victory in Ratlam-Jhabua parliamentary constituency’s by-elections, both parties held informal meetings to discuss the possible poll outcome on Sunday.

Though the Congress and BJP have claimed victory in Ratlam-Jhabua parliamentary constituency’s by-elections, both parties held informal meetings to discuss the possible poll outcome on Sunday. The vote counting will take place on Tuesday.

Congress candidate Jai Prakash Shastri with his wife after casting his vote in Dewas.(HT)

The parliamentary constituency, spread across Jhabua, Alirajpur district and three assembly constituencies (Sailana, Ratlam rural and Ratlam urban) of Ratlam district witnessed hectic but silent political activity as BJP discussed the outcome threadbare at every polling booth level.

“There were no organised meetings but discussions on how we performed at every polling booth. Talks veered around the subject during informal get-togethers at village chaupals or other public places,” Jobat (BJP) MLA, Madho Singh Damor, said.

On its part, Congress also held meetings to deliberate on its shortcomings and the tentative result while preparing the list of party leaders to be deployed at vote counting tables on Tuesday.

“Meetings were held yesterday (Saturday) night and today,” Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Archana Jaiswal said.

A month back, the BJP and Congress had deployed their leaders and workers from Indore division to drum up support for their candidates Nirmala Bhuria and Kantilal Bhuria respectively.

The state BJP unit had exempted party leaders and workers of Indore and Ujjain division from campaigning in Bihar assembly elections. Instead, they were told to work for by-elections in the tribal Ratlam-Jhabua parliamentary constituency.

Dewas assembly by-poll: Low voting worries BJP, Cong senses victory

The less voting percentage is worrying BJP while the Congress is expecting a miraculous outcome when by-election results of Dewas assembly constituency will be declared on Tuesday.

A better electoral management and aggressive election campaign had made BJP to believe that its candidate Gayatri Raje Puar will win the elections.

But the fact that only 62.03% of the people have cast votes appears to have dashed BJP’s hopes for a win. The BJP had claimed to win by a margin of more than 50,000 votes and expected polling percentage to go above 70 which, according to party leaders, is a distant reality.

According to sources, the Congress thinks that less voting means that its candidate Jai Prakash Shastri is winning.

As the BJP assessed the poll outcome on Sunday, a section of party members asked questions as to why the voting was not as brisk as expected and whether the voters were not confident about the candidate’s ability to deliver.