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{{Infobox election
| election_name = Gird seat in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly by-election, 1972
| country = India
| flag_year =
| type = By-election
| ongoing =
| party_colour =
| previous_election = 1972 Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly election
| previous_year = 1972
| next_election = 1977 Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly election
| next_year = 1977
| election_date =
| seats_for_election =
| turnout =
| image1 = [[File:South Asian Communist Banner.png|100px]]
| colour1 = red
| candidate1 = [[Balkrishna Sharma (CPI politician)|Balkrishna Sharma]]
| leader1 =
| leader_since1 =
| party1 = Communist Party of India
| alliance1 =
| home_state1 =
| leaders_seat1 =
| running_mate1 =
| last_election1 =
| seats_before1 =
| seats_needed1 =
| electoral_vote1 =
| states_carried1 =
| seats1 =
| seats_after1 =
| seat_change1 =
| popular_vote1 = 12,704
| percentage1 = 43.63%
| swing1 =
| image2 = [[File:No flag.svg|100px]]
| colour2 = orange
| candidate2 = [[Mahesh Dutta Mishra (Gird politician)|Maheshdutta Mishra]]
| leader2 =
| leader_since2 =
| party2 = Bharatiya Jana Sangh
| alliance2 =
| home_state2 =
| leaders_seat2 =
| running_mate2 =
| last_election2 =
| seats_before2 =
| seats_needed2 =
| electoral_vote2 =
| states_carried2 =
| seats2 =
| seats_after2 =
| seat_change2 =
| popular_vote2 = 11,915
| percentage2 = 40.92%
| swing2 =
| poll1_date = 5 June 1972
| poll1_source =
| poll1_nominee1 =
| poll1_party1 =
| poll2_date =
| poll2_source =
| poll2_nominee1 =
| poll2_party1 =
| map_image =
| map_size =
| map_caption =
| title =
| posttitle =
| before_election =
| before_colour =
| after_election =
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| after_party =
| result =
}}
In '''June 1972 a by-election was held in for the Gird seat''' of the [[Vidhan Sabha|Legislative Assembly]] of the [[India]]n state of [[Madhya Pradesh]]. The by-election was called after the resignation of the sitting [[Member of Legislative Assembly (India)|MLA]] [[Vijaya Raje Scindia]].

Scindia, once the [[Rajmata]] of [[Gwalior]], had won both the Gird Legislative Assembly seat as well the [[Bhind (Lok Sabha constituency)|Bhind seat]] of the [[Lok Sabha]] (lower house of the [[parliament of India]]) in the [[1971 Indian general election|1971 general election]] by impressive margins, standing for the [[Bharatiya Jana Sangh]] (BJS).<ref>Election Commission of India. ''[http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1971/Vol_I_LS71.pdf STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1971 TO THE FIFTH LOK SABHA - VOLUME I (NATIONAL AND STATE ABSTRACTS & DETAILED RESULTS)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718000000/http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1971/Vol_I_LS71.pdf |date=July 18, 2014 }}''</ref><ref name="mp1972">Election Commission of India. ''[http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1972/StatisReport_MP_72.pdf STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1972 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MADHYA PRADESH]''</ref><ref name="Jaffrelot1999"/> In the March [[1972 Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly election]] in Gird she defeated the [[Indian National Congress]] candidate Ghuraiya Sarnamsingh with a margin of over 12,000 votes.<ref name="mp1972"/> After the elections she had to choose between the two posts, and decided to retain her Lok Sabha seat and resigned from the Gird Legislative Assembly seat.<ref name="Jaffrelot1999">{{cite book|author=Christophe Jaffrelot|title=The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics: 1925 to the 1990s : Strategies of Identity-building, Implantation and Mobilisation (with Special Reference to Central India)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iVsfVOTUnYEC&pg=PA251|year=1999|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=978-0-14-024602-5|page=251}}</ref> At the time Gird was seen as a [[Scindia]]-BJS stronghold.<ref name="a"/><ref name="link"/>

The main contenders of the by-election were [[Mahesh Dutta Mishra (Gird politician)|Maheshdutta Mishra]] and [[Balkrishna Sharma (CPI politician)|Balkrishna Sharma]].<ref name="link">{{cite book|title=Link: Indian Newsmagazine, Vol. 14, Part 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3rcxAQAAIAAJ|year=1972|page=28}}</ref><ref name="e"/> Mishra was the candidate put forth by Scindia and represented the BJS.<ref name="Jaffrelot1999"/><ref name="link"/> Scindia and other prominent BJS personalities conducted speaking tours across the vast constituency to support Mishra's candidacy, at least 50 jeeps were used the purpose.<ref name="link"/> Sharma was a [[Communist Party of India]] leader with 35 years experience in working with the peasant movement in the area.<ref name="Jaffrelot1999"/><ref name="link"/><ref name="e"/> The Indian National Congress had declared its support for Sharma's candidature, but local Congress leaders in Gwalior offered little support for him.<ref name="a"/><ref name="link"/>

The election was held on 5 June 1972.<ref name="a">{{cite book|title=Asian Recorder, Vol. 18|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQMuAQAAIAAJ|year=1972|page=viii}}</ref> Sharma narrowly won the seat, largely due to support from the peasants.<ref name="Jaffrelot1999"/><ref name="e"/> He got 12,704 votes compared to 11,915 votes for Mishra. There were also six [[independent (politician)|independent]] candidates in the fray; B. Kushwah (1,868 votes), J. Raosahib (1,682 votes), Nathu (238 votes), Roopchand (110 votes) and G. Sharma (70 votes).<ref name="e">Election Commission of India. ''[http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/ByeElection/Bye-ele-results%2052-95.xls Bye-election results 1952-95]''</ref> All independent candidates lost their deposits.<ref name="a"/>

The French scholar [[Christophe Jaffrelot]] argued that "[t]he victory of the people's candidate over that of the 'palace' was the abiding image of this contest. Nor must one forget that it happened after the passing of a law establishing a ceiling of 10 acres on landholdings owned by individuals and 15 acres on those owned by families of five individuals, a measure which Congress had promised before the elections and was supported by the CPI."<ref name="Jaffrelot1999"/> According to the publication ''Link'' the election outcome was "a significant event in the anti-feudal wind blowing in the northern districts of Madhya Pradesh".<ref name="link"/> The election sparked internal dissent within the BJS, with some sectors beginning to call for a break with the relationship with the Scindias.<ref name="link"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{#seo:
|keywords=By-elections in India, 1972 elections in India, 1970s in Madhya Pradesh, Gwalior district
|description=
}}

[[Category:By-elections in India]]
[[Category:1972 elections in India]]
[[Category:State Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh|1972 Gird]]
[[Category:1970s in Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Gwalior district]]

1972 Gird by-election - Revision history

MetaBOT at 14:43, 8 July 2023