MP: Congress turncoat Kamlesh Shah who joined BJP wins Amarwara bypolls
Kamlesh Shah defeated Congress candidate Dhiren Shah in the last three rounds. Kamlesh was trailing behind Dhiren Shah from round four to 17 but he took the lead in round 18th and registered his win in round 20 of the counting
Bhopal: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Kamlesh Shah, a former Congress loyalist who defected from the party, won the by-election from Amarwara constituency of Chhindwara district with a close margin of 3,252 votes.
Kamlesh was up against Congress’ Dhiren Shah. While he was trailing in from the fourth to seventeenth round, Kamlesh took a lead in the eighteenth round of the twenty-round counting, registering a win.
Meanwhile, Congress alleged irregularities in the counting of the last two rounds. Congress supporters also allegedly created a ruckus and demanded recounting. “This win of BJP has nothing to do with democracy. BJP won with a narrow margin due to cheating and misuse of power,” Congress spokesperson KK Mishra said.
The by-election held on July 10 was necessitated after Kamlesh, a former Congress MLA and party loyalist, resigned from the assembly membership and joined the BJP in March this year.
A three-time MLA, Kamlesh had won the election against BJP candidate Monika Batti by over 25,000 votes in the December 2023 assembly election.
In this by-election, Congress had given a ticket to Dhiren, son of a religious guru of Aanchalkund Dham in Chhindwara. Dhiren, who joined politics after leaving a job as a salesman, gave a tough fight to Kamlesh.
“I am happy that the residents of Amarwara gave me a fourth chance to serve them. I will change the face of my area with development,” Kamlesh Shah after securing his win.
Since Independence, the BJP has won only twice from this seat. It was stated to be a strong bastion of Congress. In Chhindwara, where BJP had lost all seven seats in the assembly election 2023, BJP had finally opened its account by winning this seat.
