BIAORA: Counting of votes in Biaora assembly constituency, where byelection was held recently, began on Tuesday (November 10). It is to be noted that this would be the first such counting in which candidates of both BJP and Congress will not be present at the vote-counting centres as they have been infected with coronavirus infection.
According to guidelines issued on coronavirus, an infected person is discharged from the hospital after only 10-14 days. Tuesday, i.e., November 10 is the fifth day of them turning positive for the infection, and hence, it is near impossible that either of them will appear at the vote counting centres.
BJP candidate Narain Singh Parmar and Congress candidate Ramchandra Dangi had tested positive on Wednesday (November 4). The arch-rivals, both Singh and Dangi had come in contact with many respective party leaders and supporters.
Earlier, BJP candidate Pradhyum Lodhi had tested positive and he was shifted from Damoh to Chirayu Hospital.
Speaking of MP bypolls, the ruling BJP needs to win at least eight of these 28 seats to attain a simple majority in the 230-member Assembly, whose effective strength is 229. The BJP currently has 107 MLAs, while the Congress has 87 legislators in the House.
The bypoll results are also crucial for former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, who lost power in the state seven months ago when a section of Congress MLAs revolted against him after Scindia quit the party and joined the BJP.
