Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh): All preparations have been completed for counting votes for the by-election in the Amarwara assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Friday.
A turnout of 78.71 per cent was recorded in the by-election for the Scheduled Tribe reserved constituency in Chhindwara district on Wednesday, the official said.
The fate of the nine candidates, including those from the BJP, Congress and Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), will be decided in the 20 rounds of counting.
The counting of votes will begin from 8 am on July 13 at the Government PG College Bhawan, additional chief electoral officer Rajesh Kaul said.
According to officials, a three-tier security system will be in place at the counting venue, and only authorised pass holders will be allowed to enter the counting centre.
The turnout in the constituency dropped by 10 per cent compared to the 2023 assembly election, when it recorded 88.63 per cent polling.
The by-election to this Scheduled Tribes-reserved seat in Chhindwara district was prestigious for both the ruling BJP and opposition Congress, as Chhindwara was considered a stronghold of senior Congress leader Kamal Nath until recently.
Congress won the Amarwara seat in the 2023 assembly elections, but the BJP's Vivek Bunty Sahu won the Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat this time by defeating Nath's son Nakul Nath.
The assembly by-election became necessary after three-time Congress MLA Kamlesh Shah crossed over to the BJP in March this year.
Nine candidates fought the elections, but the main contest was between the BJP, which fielded Kamlesh Shah, the Congress's Dheeran Shah Invati and Gondwana Gantantra Party's (GGP) Devraman Bhalavi.
The GGP won the Amarwara seat once in 2003. The Congress had won the seat nine times, while the BJP had emerged victorious in Amarwara in 1972, 1990 and 2008.
