The counting of votes in assembly bypolls to 28 seats in Madhya Pradesh, where the fate of Shivraj Singh Chouhan government hangs in balance, is underway. The stakes are high for both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress in the bypolls, considered a litmus test for the parties. he ruling BJP with 107 MLAs in Madhya Pradesh assembly, which holds an effective strength of 229, needs at least eight more MLAs for a simple majority in the state assembly. Meanwhile, the Congress will be hoping to regain its turf as it had sitting MLAs in 27 seats out of 28 in the state where bypolls were held. Overall, the Congress party had sitting MLAs in 42 seats out of 58, which the BJP had seven. It has 87 legislators in the house. The bypolls will also be a test of the Jyotiraditya Scindia factor as the scion of the erstwhile royal family of Gwalior had quit the Congress with his loyalist MLAs, who are now fighting on BJP tickets. The result also bears significance for former chief minister Kamal Nath, who lost power in the state seven months ago after the revolt by Scindia. The counting will be held in 19 districts.
