Datia Bypolls 2026: BJP's Ashutosh Tiwari VS Congress Ghanshyam Singh— 48.91% Voter Turnout Till 1pm; Narottam Mishra Casts Vote

Face off between BJP's Ashish Tiwari & Congress' Ghanshyam Singh

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Voting began for Datia byelections at 7 am on Thursday. Queues were spotted at several centres, and the voter turnout is likely to increase during the day.

Both BJP and Congress appealed public to vote for their respective candidates.

This time the face-off is between BJP candidate Ashish Tiwari and Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh. Datia bypoll garnerend much attention this time as BJP ditched their former home minister Narottam Mishra and gave ticket to Tiwari.

Though Mishra publicly extended support to Ashish Tiwari and even appealed public vote for him, it remains questionable if the BJP's senior leader has his junior's back!

Over 2.2 lakh voters are expected to exercise their franchise across 291 polling stations in the district. Strict security arrangements have been made to ensure free, fair, and peaceful voting. Additional Superintendent of Police Manjeet Singh Chawla inspected several polling stations in the town.

Voter turnout @ 48.91% till 1pm.

Datia Collector Swapnil Vankhede said no incidents of violence have been reported from anywhere. A faulty CU, BU, and a faulty VVPAT were replaced under CCTV surveillance from some booths, and with the signatures of agents from all political parties.

BJP leader Narottam Mishra casts his vote for the Datia Assembly by-election

32.53% voter turnout recorded till 11am, according to ECINET app.

Reacting on Congress' allegations, former home minister Narottam Mishra called it as the opposition's 'desperation and despondency'. "Whenever they lose, they invariably level some allegation or another."

Congress' Ghanshyam Singh appealed voters to come out in large numbers and ensure party's victory. He alleged that the senior leaders of BJP were stationed here and that many people were 'called here from outside' by them. "Our people left from here on the evening of the 28th, but BJP leaders were all there at the Datia district border"

Younger son of BJP leader Narottam Mishra, Anshuman Mishra, along with wife cast vote for the Datia assembly by-election

Voter turnout at 12.94% as of 9am.