Amid  counting of votes in Assembly by-polls in Madhya Pradesh, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Imarti Devi has taken the lead in Dabra Assembly constituency. By-polls in Dabra was conducted along with Bihar assembly election 2020.

After the initial trends predicted victory, Imarti Devi said, “It is understandable in the initial trend that BJP is winning in Madhya Pradesh. I want to say that people have given a befitting reply to Kamal Nath for the abusive language that he used against me.

Addressing a campaign rally in Dabra for Congress candidate Suresh Raje, Kamal Nath had referred to Imarti Devi, as “Yeh kya item hai.” The remark had triggered a political controversy and many had demnaded Nath’s resignation.

Notably, Imarti Devi is one of the former Congress rebel candidates who had followed Jyotiraditya Scindia into the BJP in March 2020.

The by-elections in 25 of the 28 seats in the 230-member Assembly took place on November 3 and were necessitated due to the resignations of Congress MLAs who later joined the BJP thus bringing down the Kamal Nath government and forming the one led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan. A total of 355 candidates, including 12 ministers, contested the byelections.