Datia By-Election 2026: July Poll Schedule Announced

The Election Commission of India has decided to hold the assembly by-poll in Datia on July 30.

The by-election for Datia assembly seat was called due to Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti's removal from assembly on April 2 due to his sentencing in a criminal case that was registered 25 years ago.

He defeated former BJP senior and home minister Narottam Mishra in the 2023 assembly elections by 7,742 votes.

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The notification for the by-elections will be published on July 6 as announced by ECI. The deadline for nominations is July 13, the nomination papers will be scrutinised on July 14 and nominations can be withdrawn by July 16. Polling will be on July 30, counting will be on August 3. All of the election will be finalized by August 4.

Leader of opposition in the state assembly Umang Singhar said, “In 2023, the people of Datia elected Congress candidate Rajendra Bharti as their MLA with a massive majority. However, his membership was cancelled due to a conspiracy involving the BJP and the Election Commission. Now, the BJP wants to capture this seat by hastily holding a by-election in Datia. We are fully confident that the people of Datia will once again place their trust in the Congress party.”

BJP urban development minister Kailash Vijayvargiya said, “The responsibility for conducting elections for vacant seats within the stipulated timeframe lies with the Election Commission. The Congressmen have made a habit of questioning constitutional institutions. BJP will win the election for sure.”

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The MP assembly secretariat had earlier disqualified Rajendra Bharti from the membership of the Legislative Assembly on 3 April on the basis of the Supreme Court verdict of 2013, which was based on the provisions under Article 191(1)(c) of the Constitution along with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

Delhi's Special MP/MLA court under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sentenced Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti to three years' imprisonment in a 25-year-old fraud case under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 467 and 468 (forgery) and 471 (using forged documents).

The case goes back to Bharti's days as chairman of the District Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank in Datia in 2001. Investigators claimed that BHARTI and a bank clerk opened fixed deposits worth ₹10 lakh where the maturity dates were falsified on the documents and he would be able to withdraw funds at higher interest rates than those agreed to.

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