Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday scored facile victories to enter the Rajya Sabha through rival parties in Madhya Pradesh.
The BJP, which was placed comfortably to win two seats in the changed circumstances after toppling the Kamal Nath government, got a mild jolt when one of its legislators Gopilal Jatav voted for Congress candidate "by mistake". Another MLA Jugal Kishore Bagri had his vote rejected on technical grounds.
The final tally for the four candidates in fray was: Digvijay Singh (Congress) 57 votes, Jyotiraditya Scindia (BJP) 56 votes, Sumers Singh Solanki (BJP) 55 votes and Phool Singh Baraiya (Congress) 36 votes lost.
Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samajwadi Party MLAs voted for BJP, while the votes of the Independents were split. There were no instructions from the BSP and the SP, so the MLAs voted as per their discretion. "We have to ensure the development of our constituencies which can be possible by backing the ruling party," they said.
There was an added interest in the contest in Madhya Pradesh because the state witnessed a bitter battle between Digvijaya Singh and Scindia which led to a rebellion in the Congress, bringing down the 15-month old Kamal Nath government. With 22 Congress members switching to BJP, the state is now burdened with 24 by-elections.
( With inputs from IANS )