The Bharatiya Janata Party, reeling under the shock of the Bihar debacle, has tasted defeat at the hands of the Congress in the by-election to the Ratlam-Jhabua Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh.
BJP candidate Nirmala Bhuria lost the by-poll to Congress candidate Kantilal Bhuria in Ratlam-Jhabua constituency by 88,832 votes. The saffron party had won the seat in the 2014 elections.
The victory has increased the number of Congress members in the Lok Sabha to 45.
The by-poll was declared after the death of Nirmala's father, Dileep Singh Bhuria. However, the tribal-dominated constituency supported the former Union Minister and state unit president Kantilal.
However, the ruling BJP retained the Dewas Assembly seat with its candidate Gayatri Raje Puar defeating the Congress' Jai Prakash Shastri.
