Imarti Devi loses in Dabra even as BJP sweeps 19 seats in MP Bypolls

The ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh is leading in 21 of the 28 Assembly constituencies for which byelections were held while the Congress is ahead in six seats, as per the trends of counting on Tuesday. Amid this, BJP candidate Imarti Devi has taken the lead in Dabra Assembly constituency by over 2000 votes and is likely to defeat her Congress rival Suresh Raje.

'People have given a befitting reply to Kamal Nath'

Reacting to the early trends, Imarti Devi said, “It is understandable in the initial trend that BJP is winning in Madhya Pradesh. I want to say that people have given a befitting reply to Kamal Nath for the abusive language that he used against me. On ex-CM Kamal Nath's victory claim in Madhya Pradesh, she stated, "There is nothing wrong in making claims." A total of 355 candidates, including 12 ministers, had contested the byelections held on November 3 for which a voter turnout of 70.27% was recorded. 

'Item' remark sparks row

Addressing a rally in Dabra on October 18 while campaigning for the Madhya Pradesh by-elections, Nath had referred to MP Minister and BJP candidate Imarti Devi as an 'item'. He said, "Suresh Raje is our candidate. He is a simple person. He is not like her. Why should I even take her name? You know her better than me. I should have warned you in advance. She is such an item". While Kamal Nath expressed a conditional apology following a considerable uproar from Imarti Devi and BJP leaders, he claimed that the word 'item' was commonly used in Parliament and state legislatures. 

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After pulling up Kamal Nath for repeated violation of Model Code of Conduct, the Election Commission of India (EC) had revoked his 'star campaigner' status. The EC stated that if any campaign is done by Kamal Nath, the entire expenditure will be borne by the candidate in whose constituency campaign is being undertaken. 

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Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi also condemned Kamal Nath's remarks, saying that he did not like the kind of language the former Chief Minister used. "Kamal Nathji is from my party but personally, I don't like the type of language that he used...I don't appreciate it, regardless of who he is. It is unfortunate," he had said.

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