Chitrakoot bypoll: Cong leads by 15,000 votes after round 7

Bhopal: Congress candidate Nilanshu Chaturvedi was leading by 15,000 votes over his nearest BJP rival Shankar Dayal Tripathi at the end of the seventh round of counting in Chitrakoot Assembly by-poll in Madhya Pradesh. The counting of votes polled in the November 9 by-election began at around 8 am amid tight security.

Chaturvedi was leading by 15,000 votes over Tripathi at the end of the seventh round of counting, an election official said. Around 65 per cent voting was recorded in the by-poll necessitated following the death of sitting Congress MLA Prem Singh (65).

Singh had won the assembly constituency, bordering Uttar Pradesh, in 1998, 2003 and 2013 elections. However, he had lost the seat to BJP’s Surendra Singh Gaharwar in the 2008 polls. Though 12 candidates contested the by-election, the main fight was between Chaturvedi and Tripathi.