The suspension comes days after the Congress candidate for the bypoll, Ghanshyam Singh, accused Mr. Bharti of trying to sabotage his campaign and colluding with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
| Photo Credit: ANI
A day before the result of the recently held by-election to Madhya Pradesh’s Datia Assembly seat, the Congress suspended former MLA Rajendra Bharti — whose disqualification necessitated the bypoll — from the party’s primary membership.
The suspension comes days after the Congress candidate for the bypoll, Ghanshyam Singh, accused Mr. Bharti of trying to sabotage his campaign and colluding with the Bharatiya Janata Party. Mr. Bharti, however, alleged that Mr. Singh had been colluding with senior BJP leader and former State Home Minister Narottam Mishra, who was denied the ticket by the ruling party.
“With the approval of the president of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), Mallikarjun Kharge Ji, Rajendra Bharti, former MLA from Datia, is hereby suspended from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress with immediate effect,” Harish Chaudhary, Congress general secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, said in a statement.
Bypoll to the Datia Assembly seat was held on July 30 and the votes will be counted on August 3. The constituency recorded a voting turnout of 71.44%, as per the Election Commission.
The bypoll was necessitated following the disqualification of Mr. Bharti in April due to his conviction in a bank fraud case.
The BJP fielded debutant Ashutosh Tiwari, after snubbing former State Home Minister Narottam Mishra who represented the seat for three consecutive terms until his defeat to Mr. Bharti in the 2023 Assembly polls. The Congress fielded Mr. Singh, a member of the erstwhile Datia royal family and former MLA from neighbouring Sewda Assembly seat.
Towards the end of campaigning days in Datia, Mr. Bharti and Mr. Singh levelled allegations against each other, including about receiving funding from BJP leaders. Mr. Singh also accused Mr. Bharti of not supporting his campaign in the bypoll.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Bharti’s son Ankit Bharti said, “Ghanshyam Singh has been very close to Narottam Mishra for several years and has worked against Congress candidates in the past. Even for this election he has received funding from Narottam as he is also working against BJP because he did not get the ticket. But he [Mr. Singh] has alleged that my father has received funding from the BJP to support their candidate [Mr. Tiwari].”
Mr. Bharti and Mr. Mishra have been political rivals for more than a decade with the former ending the BJP leader’s three-term tenure as Datia MLA in the 2023 election.
A leader close to Mr. Bharti also said he “had a role” in the BJP’s decision to deny Mr. Mishra the ticket.
Published – August 03, 2026 12:08 am IST
