Datia bypoll records 71.44% turnout; vote count on August 3
Synopsis
Datia's bypoll drew 71.44% turnout — nearly nine points below 2023 levels — despite rain and Congress allegations of bogus voting and booth capturing. The seat, vacated after a Congress MLA's fraud conviction, pits BJP's Ashutosh Tiwari against Congress's Ghanshyam Singh, with counting on 3 August deciding who controls a constituency that humiliated Narottam Mishra just two years ago.
Key Takeaways
Datia Assembly bypoll recorded 71.44% voter turnout on 30 July , down nearly 9 percentage points from the 80.2% logged in the 2023 election .
Voting concluded peacefully across all 291 polling stations , with over 2.20 lakh eligible voters.
Congress alleged bogus voting in Sirol and Jigna villages and accused a BJP agent of booth capturing at station 51 ; BJP denied the claims.
The bypoll was triggered by the disqualification of former Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti after his conviction in a fraud case.
The contest is between BJP's Ashutosh Tiwari and Congress's Ghanshyam Singh ; vote counting is on 3 August .
In 2023 , Bharti had defeated senior BJP leader Narottam Mishra by 7,742 votes .
Madhya Pradesh's Datia Assembly by-election concluded peacefully on Thursday, 30 July with a voter turnout of 71.44% recorded till 6 pm, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI). The figure is nearly nine percentage points lower than the 80.2% turnout logged in the 2023 Assembly election, with counting scheduled for 3 August.
Polling Day Overview
District Collector and Returning Officer Swapnil Wankhede confirmed that voting across all 291 polling stations concluded without any law and order incident, despite intermittent rainfall in parts of the constituency. 'Polling at all 291 polling stations was conducted peacefully. Despite the rain, voters came out to exercise their democratic right, and there was no disturbance or law and order issue reported from any part of the constituency,' Wankhede told reporters.
More than 2.20 lakh eligible voters were registered for the bypoll. The ECI had designated 231 stations as critical and 28 as vulnerable, prompting extensive security arrangements involving personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Special Armed Force (SAF), and Madhya Pradesh Police.
EVM Performance and Rain Disruptions
Electronic voting machines (EVMs), which had undergone mandatory pre-poll testing, functioned without technical fault throughout the day, according to Wankhede. 'All EVMs had been thoroughly tested before polling, and they worked without any technical fault during the election. Wherever minor issues related to polling equipment arose, they were resolved immediately to ensure that voting continued smoothly,' he said.
Heavy rainfall caused waterlogging at a few polling stations, but the district administration made alternative arrangements to ensure uninterrupted voting.
Allegations and Counter-Allegations
The Indian National Congress (Congress) alleged bogus voting in Sirol and Jigna villages during polling. Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh also accused a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) polling agent of attempting booth capturing at polling station number 51.
The BJP dismissed the allegations. Senior party leader and former Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra claimed the Congress 'habitually levels such accusations whenever it senses electoral defeat.' The ECI has not issued any formal finding on the allegations.
Why This Seat Is Significant
The bypoll was necessitated by the disqualification of former Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti following his conviction in a fraud case. The contest is a direct fight between BJP nominee Ashutosh Tiwari and Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh. Notably, in the 2023 Assembly election, Bharti had defeated Narottam Mishra — then a senior BJP figure — by 7,742 votes, making Datia a politically sensitive seat for both parties.
What Happens Next
Votes will be counted on 3 August. The result will determine whether the BJP can reclaim a seat it lost in 2023 under unusual circumstances, and whether the Congress can hold ground despite its candidate's disqualification triggering the bypoll in the first place.
Point of View
But the scale of the dip in a seat that was already a BJP sore point after Narottam Mishra's 2023 defeat adds pressure on the party's ground machinery. The Congress's booth-capturing allegations, unverified by the ECI, follow a familiar script from both parties; without official findings, they are political noise. What is structurally unusual here is that the Congress is defending a seat whose bypoll it effectively caused through its own MLA's fraud conviction — a reputational liability that could suppress its base turnout more than any rain.
NationPress
31 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the voter turnout in the Datia Assembly bypoll 2025?
The Datia Assembly bypoll recorded a voter turnout of 71.44% till 6 pm on 30 July 2025, according to the Election Commission of India. This is nearly nine percentage points lower than the 80.2% turnout in the 2023 Assembly election.
When will Datia bypoll votes be counted?
Counting of votes for the Datia Assembly bypoll is scheduled for 3 August 2025. The result will determine whether the BJP or Congress wins the seat.
Why was the Datia Assembly bypoll held?
The bypoll was necessitated by the disqualification of former Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti after his conviction in a fraud case. His disqualification vacated the seat, triggering the by-election.
Who are the main candidates in the Datia bypoll?
The primary contest is between BJP nominee Ashutosh Tiwari and Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh. The seat has political significance as it was won by Congress in 2023, when Rajendra Bharti defeated senior BJP leader Narottam Mishra by 7,742 votes.
Were there any irregularities reported during Datia bypoll voting?
Congress alleged bogus voting in Sirol and Jigna villages and accused a BJP polling agent of attempting booth capturing at polling station number 51. The BJP denied the allegations, and no formal finding from the Election Commission has been reported.
