<p>BJP today retained Garoth Assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district albeit with a reduced margin than in the 2013 Assembly polls.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Congress, however, termed BJP's win with a lower margin than earlier as a "moral defeat" for the ruling party.<br /><br />The by-election at the seat was necessitated due to the death of BJP MLA Rajesh Yadav following illness.<br /><br />BJP candidate Chander Singh Sisodia won the bypoll by defeating Congress' Subhash Kumar Sojatia with a margin of 12,945 votes, an election officer said.<br /><br />Sisodia got 81,449 votes while Sojatia bagged 68,504 votes, he said. The BJP had won the seat in the 2013 Assembly polls with a margin of 25,755 votes.<br /><br />A total of 1,55,934 voters exercised their franchise in the bypoll, with 1,924 voting in favour of NOTA (None of the Above). In 2013, 1,63,892 votes were polled at the seat.<br /><br />Eight candidates were in fray for the by-poll, but the main contest was between BJP's Sisodia and Congress nominee Sojatia.<br /><br />State Congress unit's chief spokesperson K K Mishra termed the BJP's victory with a reduced margin in the bypoll as the ruling party's "moral defeat."<br /><br />Alleging that BJP won the bypoll by misusing official machinery in a big way, he said that it is not the victory of BJP, but of its "dishonesty."<br /><br />However, Madhya Pradesh's BJP unit spokesman Vishwas Sarang said it was a victory of the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.<br /><br />People have again expressed their faith in their governance, Sarang said, adding that the victory margin was "comfortable".<br /><br />State BJP's media in-charge Dr Hitesh Vajpayee also described the party's success in Garoth as the victory of Chouhan and his government and the party's policies.</p>
<p>BJP today retained Garoth Assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district albeit with a reduced margin than in the 2013 Assembly polls.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Congress, however, termed BJP's win with a lower margin than earlier as a "moral defeat" for the ruling party.<br /><br />The by-election at the seat was necessitated due to the death of BJP MLA Rajesh Yadav following illness.<br /><br />BJP candidate Chander Singh Sisodia won the bypoll by defeating Congress' Subhash Kumar Sojatia with a margin of 12,945 votes, an election officer said.<br /><br />Sisodia got 81,449 votes while Sojatia bagged 68,504 votes, he said. The BJP had won the seat in the 2013 Assembly polls with a margin of 25,755 votes.<br /><br />A total of 1,55,934 voters exercised their franchise in the bypoll, with 1,924 voting in favour of NOTA (None of the Above). In 2013, 1,63,892 votes were polled at the seat.<br /><br />Eight candidates were in fray for the by-poll, but the main contest was between BJP's Sisodia and Congress nominee Sojatia.<br /><br />State Congress unit's chief spokesperson K K Mishra termed the BJP's victory with a reduced margin in the bypoll as the ruling party's "moral defeat."<br /><br />Alleging that BJP won the bypoll by misusing official machinery in a big way, he said that it is not the victory of BJP, but of its "dishonesty."<br /><br />However, Madhya Pradesh's BJP unit spokesman Vishwas Sarang said it was a victory of the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.<br /><br />People have again expressed their faith in their governance, Sarang said, adding that the victory margin was "comfortable".<br /><br />State BJP's media in-charge Dr Hitesh Vajpayee also described the party's success in Garoth as the victory of Chouhan and his government and the party's policies.</p>