Workers of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress party clashed with each other outside the counting spot in Madhya Pradesh's Shajapur district after BJP candidate from Shajapur constituency defeated his Congress candidate by a small margin. The police present on the spot used lathi charge and tear gas to disperse them. BJP candidate Arun Bhimawad beat Congress candidate Hukum Singh Karada by just 28 votes after which the workers of both the parties raised slogans and clashed with each other.

 

Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) T S Baghel, "There are three assembly constituencies in Shajapur district and the counting of votes in all three assemblies has been completed peacefully. Some BJP and Congress supporters were raising slogans after which the police immediately reached there and advised them. The situation is peaceful now." Meanwhile, reacting to the clash in Shajapur, MP CEO Anupam Rajan said that the margin of votes during counting was less, so the process of re-verification of the rejected postal ballots was underway. "In Shajapur, the margin of votes during counting was less. When the margin is less then the rejected postal ballots are re-verified so the process of re-verification of the rejected postal ballots is underway," Rajan said.

 

Nonetheless, the BJP seems poised to return to power in the State where it ruled for 20 years, barring a short span in 2018 when Chief Minister Kamal Nath-led Congress party was in power. According to the latest trends from the Election Commission of India, the BJP won 21 seats and was leading on 145 seats, while the Congress party won seven seats and was leading on 56 seats and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won one seat. Elections to the 230-seat Madhya Pradesh Assembly was a fight between the BJP and the Congress, which was toppled from power in 2020 with help from Jyotiraditya Scindia.