The Madhya Pradesh bypolls saw the BJP and the Congress trade charges of voter fraud and violence with the police shifting candidates to guest houses and barring state presidents of both parties from entering a constituency. In Budhni, voter turnout stood at 75.05% and 77.42% in Vijaypur until 5 pm, according to the Election Commission. The bastion of former CM and Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Budhni is seeing a contest between BJP’s Ramakant Bhargava and Congress’s Rajkumar Patel and also an important test for Chouhan’s son Kartikey, who took over the reins of the campaigning. In Vijaypur, state Forest and Environment Minister Ramniwas Rawat, a powerful OBC leader from Chambal region and a former Congress leader, is up against Mukesh Malhotra from his former party. After the Sheopur Police shifted Rawat and Malhotra to guest houses and allowed them to vote, Additional SP (Sheopur) Satyendra Singh Tomar told The Indian Express that this was a precautionary move “because tension was visible among the workers of the two parties”. In Dorda village of Vijaypur police jurisdiction, Magistrate Yatendra Chhari was reportedly attacked by 50 to 60 people when he arrived to investigate allegations of bogus voting. ASP Tomar said, “There was no large-scale violence. There were allegations which were made by both sides and we will investigate them. We have not yet registered an FIR in connection with Charri’s case." Budhni Congress candidate Patel alleged that votes were cast without ID verification and that BJP workers “attacked his supporters, damaged three vehicles, and were deliberately causing disturbances in Shahganj.” Following the allegation, state Congress unit chief Jitu Patwari and his BJP counterpart V D Sharma rushed towards Sheopur but they were stopped by the local police. Later, a Congress delegation went to the Madhya Pradesh CEO’s office in Bhopal and accused it of “ignoring irregularities” in the Vijaypur by-election. Countering Congress’s allegations, Sharma said that it was a conspiracy fearing a loss and demanded strict action against Congress leaders for “entering Vijaypur Assembly constituency”. The EC conducted the election in a free and fair manner but the Congress was trying to disrupt it, he said, and urged BJP workers to resist Congress’s “goondaism, which would not be tolerated at any cost”. “BJP candidate Ramnivas Rawat’s goons openly prevented voters from casting their ballots across Vijaypur, wielding weapons. Presiding officers were beaten publicly. In Virpur block of Vijaypur, tribals were stopped from voting, which led them to surround the police station in protest. Meanwhile, the Collector and the SP remained silent on these serious incidents,” Patwari said. A delegation, led by BJP state general secretary and MLA Bhagwandas Sabnani, submitted a memorandum to the office of the Madhya Pradesh CEO, demanding action against “Congress’s attempts to influence voting in the Vijaypur and Budhni constituencies.” The BJP alleged, “Congress party members and workers were intimidating voters in Vijaypur and Budhni, attacking BJP polling booth agents, and engaging in fraudulent voting.”
