Congress fields veteran Ghanshyam Singh to take on BJP's Tiwari in Datia assembly bypoll

Bhopal, Jul 11 (PTI) The Congress on Saturday nominated former MLA Ghanshyam Singh as its candidate for the July 30 byelection to Datia assembly constituency in the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh. His main rival would be the saffron party's Ashutosh Tiwari (45). A former MLA from Datia and Sevda, 72-year-old Singh belongs to the erstwhile Datia royal family and is considered an influential political figure in the district. His father, Maharaj Krishna Singh Ju Deo, was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Bhind-Datia constituency on a Congress ticket in 1984. Ghanshyam Singh first won the Datia assembly seat in 1993 by defeating BJP candidate Shambhu Dayal Tiwari. After being denied a ticket in 1998, Singh returned to the assembly from Datia in 2003 by defeating Avdesh Nayak. He lost to BJP leader Narottam Mishra in the 2008 assembly election. Singh unsuccessfully contested from Sevda in 2013 before winning the seat in 2018. However, he lost the 2023 assembly election to BJP's Pradeep Agrawal. "I am going to win the bypoll. I will work for the development of the constituency and focus on eradicating the politics of witch-hunt and casteism plaguing Datia," Singh told PTI over phone. The bypoll was necessitated after Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti lost his assembly membership following his conviction in a cheating case. Polling is scheduled for July 30 and counting of votes will take place on August 3. PTI LAL KRK