Betul (Madhya Pradesh): Voting for the third phase of elections will be held on May 7 in as many as nine constituencies, including Betul, a stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Previously, elections in Betul were scheduled for April 26 (second phase). However, due to the sudden death of BSP candidate Ashok Bharavi on April 9, the voting date was moved to May 7.
Just like in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Durga Das Wiki of the BJP will be fighting against Ram Tekam of the Congress this time as well.
Lok Sabha Elections 2019
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate Durga Das Wiki won from Betul with 810,000 votes. Mr Ukie defeated parliamentary candidate Lam Tekam by a huge margin of 359,000 votes.
2014 Lok Sabha Elections
Similarly, in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Jyoti Dhruv of the BJP defeated Ajay Shah ‘Makrai’ of the Congress. Dhruv received 643,000 votes, while Ajay Shah barely managed half that, with 3.14 million votes.
Strong holding power of the BJP
Betul is a stronghold of the BJP. The saffron party has won from the constituency four times in a row (2019, 2014, 2009 Lok Sabha elections and 2023 Assembly elections). Hemant Vijay Khandelwal, the incumbent MLA from Betul, is also from the BJP and defeated Congress’ Nilai Daga by a margin of over 15,000 votes in the 2023 assembly elections.
What do the polls show?
An India TV-CNX poll suggests that Prime Minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party will win all 29 seats in central India.
Considering history, the Bharatiya Janata Party has an advantage over the Congress this time too.
Published on: Sunday, May 5, 2024, 11:26 AM IST
