BJP Candidate Blames ‘Sabotage’ for Defeat in Damoh Bypoll, Truth Has Prevailed, Claims Congress

A year after losing power in Madhya Pradesh, the Damoh by-poll win seems to have bolstered the sagging spirits of the Congress party in Madhya Pradesh while the BJP has openly blamed internal sabotage for the loss.

BJP’s Rahul Lodhi a Congress party turncoat has been defeated by Congress candidate Ajay Tandon by a margin of 17089 votes as counting concluded the late evening on Sunday.

Lodhi who had switched over to BJP last year after defeating BJP’s Jayant Malaiya by 798 votes in the 2018 assembly polls, was furious after the defeat and came down heavily on Malaiya and his family.

Lodhi after the defeat speaking to the media squarely blamed former minister Jayant Malaiya and his son Siddharth for the loss saying those who were responsible for urban areas (Siddharth) seemed to be napping, this is a normal query. When asked specifically whom he was referring to, he named Jayant Malaiya and his son Siddharth saying the party even lost in their own ward.

I seek action from Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and party state head VD Sharma, said Lodhi.

To add, Siddharth Malaiya was expected to rebel against the party ahead of the polls but he was placated by the party senior leaders in the eleventh hour.

Though this win remains inconsequential in numbers in the MP assembly, the Congress party was more than delighted to see Lodhi biting the dust. The MP Congress tweeted, “The truth prevailed, the dishonesty lost. The democracy won while gaddari lost,”

The party also took a swipe on Lodhi’s remarks in which he lashed at insiders saying some leaders call party their mother and still betray it. Lodhi seems to have finally realised his mistake after the loss, claimed the Congress party.

MP chief Kamal Nath who tasted win in his native region tweeted, “Truth has finally prevailed. This result has started countdown of BJP in the state. The public has offered a befitting lesson to BJP’s thinking and policy of ‘Polls ahead of the public’.”

The BJP spokesperson Dr Hitesh Vajpayee speaking to the news18.com backed his candidate’s views on internal sabotage in the bypoll. “I have no qualms in saying that Kamal Nath and his three generations aren’t capable of defeating BJP in Damoh with 20,000 votes unless there is internal sabotage,” said Dr Vajpayee claiming that it’s not possible that senior leaders’ are not aware of reasons behind the loss and their silence should not be taken as their ignorance.

These leaders will take a firm decision at an opportune moment, he said adding loss in Damoh is a defeat handed by those from within.

To add, Lodhi had deserted the Congress party during the mass exodus in the grand old party. After initially reposing utmost faith in MPCC chief Kamal Nath and slamming those who were leaving the party, Lodhi had suddenly one day announced to join Bharatiya Janata Party days ahead of by-polls in the state last year. Congress since then had treated Lodhi with titles like Bikau, gaddar, and jaichand.

Meanwhile, the BJP had unofficially decided to name him in bypolls but Lodhi’s entry hadn’t gone down well with the former finance minister Jayant Malaiya and his son Siddharth. The party high command however had managed to keep the family in the party fold.

Constituency-Wise Election Results LIVE: West Bengal | Tamil Nadu | Kerala | Assam | Puducherry

LIVE Blogs: West Bengal | Tamil Nadu | Kerala | Assam