Congress turncoat Kamlesh Shah wins Amarwada seat in assembly bypolls as BJP candidate

Bhopal: In a nail-biting finish, Congress turncoat Kamlesh Shah, who contested as a BJP candidate, has won the Amarwada (ST) by-election (Assembly seat) by a margin of 3252 votes in Chhindwara district on July 13.

The voting for Amarwada (ST) by-election took place on July 10 along with 12 other assembly seats, across 6 states. Kamlesh defeated his Congress rival Dhiran Shah in the close contest.

Till the 10th round of counting, Congress candidate Dhiren had maintained a sizable lead of over six thousand votes. But it was Kamesh Shah of BJP who ultimately emerged victorious.

According to ECI, Amarwada had recorded a high voter turnout of 78.71% for the by-election but it was still around 10 per cent less than the turnout for the assembly elections of November 2023, which seen a voter turnout of 88.63 per cent.

According to available information, BJP's Kamlesh Shah got 82,988 votes, Congress' Dhiran Shah got 79,784 votes while GGP (Gondwana Gantantra Party) candidate Deviram alias Devraven Bhalavi got 28638 votes in the by-election today.

In terms of vote share, the BJP scored 40.9 per cent, while Congress had 39.3 per cent and GGP 14.11 per cent. The BJP's victory had a slim margin of 1.2 per cent votes in the Amarwada by-election.

Deputy CM Rajendra Shukla while expressing happiness, termed the victory to be people's victory. The mandate seems to approve of BJP's policies under PM Modi and Madhya Pradesh CM Dr Mohan Yadav.

In his first reaction PCC chief Jitu Patwari alleged the by-election process including counting of votes was rigged through the misuse of government machinery, calling BJP's victory a clear ‘murder of democracy’.

Initially the party wise position in the 230-member house of MP state assembly (after the 2023 assembly election) stood as 163 MLAs of BJP followed by 66 of congress and lone seat (1 seat) to BAP (Bhart Adivasi Party).

Kamleshwar Dondiyar of BAP won the assembly election from Sailana seat in Nov 2023. Now with this victory, BJP's tally in the state assembly has increased to 164 while Congress' share has reduced to 65 seats.

Soon the by-election for Vijaypur seat in Sheopur district and Bundi in Vidisha district will also take place in MP. Vijaypur seat will be represented by minister Ramniwas Rawat, another Congress turncoat, while the Budni seat will see Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan contesting.

Chhindwara, once considered as the pocket borough and invincible fortress of the Nath family (Kamal Nath/Nakul Nath), fell in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

According to sources Kamlesh Shah (now BJP MLA), who was once a close confidant of Kamal Nath, was allegedly intimidated and coerced to quit Congress by the ruling party. His wife Madhvi Shah, who was heading the Harrie Nagar Panchayat post, was allegedly charged in a corruption case.

Kamlesh was threatened with legal consequences for the corruption charges in the same case lodged against his wife, alleged PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) chief Jitu Patwari.

Kamlesh had earlier won the assembly election that took place in Nov 2023 on a Congress ticket from the Amarwada seat. But he switched sides and joined the BJP just before Lok Sabha 2024 election, a defection that raised many eyebrows.