Congress Wins Datia Assembly By-Election as Most Candidates Lose Deposits

In Datia Assembly by-election 2026, Congress has registered a big victory by retaining its seat. Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh defeated BJP's Ashutosh Tiwari by 6016 votes. Ghanshyam Singh got 66,757 votes while Ashutosh Tiwari got 60,741 votes. But the biggest aspect of this election was not only the victory and defeat, but also the loss of deposit of 19 out of 21 candidates. The total 1,57,499 valid votes cast in Datia by-election. According to the rules of the Election Commission, any candidate needed to get at least one-sixth of the total valid votes to save his deposit, that is about 26,250 votes. Only two candidates could cross this figure. In this election, Azad Samaj Party (Kanshiram) candidate Damodar Yadav'Mandal'stood at the third place. He got 22,527 votes, which is 14.30 percent of the total valid votes. Although he stood at the third place, he did not cross the 26,250 votes required to save his deposit. Damodar Singh Yadav (Right to Recall) was also able to lose most of his deposits.