Congress tightens hold over Gwalior

By overthrowing the stranglehold of the BJP, the Congress had has consolidated its grip on Gwalior.

The Congress romped home to victory in five of the six seats in Gwalior, the home district of senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia.

The BJP managed to hold on to Gwalior Rural Assembly seat, where Bharat Singh Kushwah defeated his closest rival Sahab Singh Gurjar of the BSP.

In the 2013 Assembly elections, the BJP had won four seats in the district, while the Congress had to be satisfied with the rest.

Scindia's maternal aunt Maya Singh, a minister in the outgoing Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government, had opted out of the electoral battle.

She had won the Gwalior East Assembly seat in 2013.

Congress' Munnalal Goyal defeated BJP candidate Satish Singh Sikarwar by a margin of 17,819 votes.

Gwalior South seat witnessed a close fight between incumbent Narayan Singh Kushwah of the BJP and Praveen Pathak of the Congress. Pathak came up trumps by a margin of 121 votes.

Higher Education Minister Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya, who represented Gwalior Assembly segment was defeated by Congress candidate Pradhuman Singh Tomar by a margin of 21,044 votes.

In Dabara and Bhitarwar, Congress candidates Imarti Devi and Lakhan Singh Yadav retained their respective seats.

Yadav defeated BJP candidate Anoop Mishra, the nephew of former prime minister the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Scindia, the scion of the Gwalior royal family, had campaigned extensively in the region which was once a BJP stronghold.

'Agrarian distress' and the 'vagaries of demonetisation' faced by traders and the 'faulty implementation of Goods & Services Tax' were considered as the key reasons for the BJP's defeat.