The Election Commission of India has announced that voting in the Datia Assembly by-election will be held on July 30.
The by-election for the Datia Assembly seat became necessary after MLA Rajendra Bharti was disqualified from Parliament on April 2 following his sentencing in a 25-year-old criminal case.
In the 2023 Assembly elections, he defeated former home minister and senior BJP leader Narottam Mishra by 7,742 votes.
According to the schedule announced by ICEC, the notification of the by-election will be issued on July 6. The last date for submitting nominations is July 13, July 14 has been set for reviewing nomination papers, and the last date for withdrawing nominations is July 16. Polling will be held on July 30, and votes will be counted on August 3. The entire electoral process will conclude by August 4.
“In 2023, the people of Datia elected Congress candidate Rajendra Bharti as MLA with an overwhelming majority. However, his membership was canceled due to a conspiracy involving the BJP and the Election Commission. Now, the BJP wants to grab this seat by hurriedly holding by-elections in Datia. We are quite confident that the people of Datia will once again put their trust in the Congress party,” said Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Umang Sengar.
BJP Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya said, “The responsibility of holding elections to vacant seats within the stipulated time frame lies with the Election Commission. Congress members have a habit of questioning constitutional institutions. The BJP will definitely win the elections.”
On April 3, the House Secretariat disqualified Rajendra Bharti from the Legislative Assembly, citing the 2013 Supreme Court ruling and the provisions under Section 191 (1) (c) of the Constitution read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti has been sentenced to three years imprisonment in a 25-year-old fraud case by a special Delhi MP/MLA court under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 467 and 468 (forgery), and 471 (use of forged documents) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The case dates back to Bharti’s tenure as Chairman of District Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank in Datia in 2001. Investigators alleged that Bharti, in collusion with an employee of the bank, manipulated fixed deposits worth $10 lakh by changing the maturity periods and related documents, enabling him to withdraw funds at higher interest rates beyond the stipulated conditions.
