BJP leader Narottam Mishra. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Ashutosh Tiwari for the byelection in Madhya Pradesh’s Datia Assembly constituency, concluding the days of speculation that former State Home Minister Narottam Mishra would be fielded again.
Mr. Mishra, a three-term MLA from Datia, had lost to Congress’ Rajendra Bharti in the 2023 Assembly polls. Mr. Bharti’s legislative membership was, however, cancelled in April, 2026, after he was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison by a special MP/MLA court in Delhi in a bank fraud case from 2015.
A byelection in Datia was announced by the Election Commission of India on July 7, for which polling will be held on July 30 and counting of votes will take place on August 3. The last date to file nomination is July 13.
The announcement of Mr. Tiwari’s name came soon after the Delhi High Court rejected a petition by Mr. Bharti seeking a stay on his conviction. The High Court, however, had earlier stayed his sentence.
Mr. Tiwari, considered close to former Chief Minister Uma Bharti, has served as the chairperson of the Madhya Pradesh Housing & Infrastructure Development Board (MPHIDB) in the rank of a Cabinet Minister in the past. Coming from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) background, he has also been a regional secretary (organisation) in the State unit of the BJP.
The candidate selection has come as a surprise to many in the State BJP as speculations of Mr. Mishra’s candidature had been doing rounds since the announcement of the polls.
Local reports from Datia also showed that Mr. Mishra had started his public engagement and held a few rallies. Mr. Mishra, a prominent Brahmin leader, has long held influence in the region with Datia as his bastion. Earlier, he had served as a three-term MLA from his home constituency of Dabra and moved to Datia in 2008 after Dabra became reserved for the Scheduled Caste.
After he was denied the ticket, several of his supporters staged demonstrations in Datia, raising slogans against the State BJP leadership. A group of local traders has also to shut the markets if the candidate is not changed.
Two BJP insiders told The Hindu that the decision on candidate selection may have been taken based on local feedback from party workers as well as a speculation that the Congress could field someone from Mr. Bharti’s family.
“His victory margin in 2018 was less than 3,000 against against Rajendra Bharti and then he lost [by more than 7,700 votes] in 2023. The leadership did not received a promising feedback from the ground which may have led to this decision,” a leader in Bhopal said, requesting anonymity.
“Another factor is that many senior leaders and ministers may not have been comfortable if he had won the bypoll. He would definitely have expected to be inducted in the Cabinet. This may have unsettled some senior leaders,” the leader added.
The Congress is yet to declare its candidate.
Published – July 11, 2026 08:03 am IST
