In a setback to BJP, Congress wrested the Bahoriband Assembly seat from the ruling party which emerged victorious in Agar and Vijayraghavgarh segments in the by-elections, results of which were announced on Monday. Sourabh Singh, who joined Congress recently after quitting BSP, won from Bahoriband by a margin of 7,977 votes.

The BJP wrested Vijayraghavgarh from Congress as its candidate Sanjay Pathak won by a convincing margin of 53,397 votes over Congress' former Mayor Brajendra Mishra Pathak secured 90,084 votes, while Mishra got 36,687.

Pathak had won the 2013 Assembly election from Vijaraghavgarh on a Congress ticket with a thin margin. He later joined the BJP during Lok Sabha elections following differences with senior Congress leaders.

The victory in Bahoriband may boost the morale of Congress, which has been out of power in the state since 2003. At the seat, Sourabh bagged 76,712 votes while BJP's Pranav Pandey got 68,735 votes in a keenly contested by-poll held on August 21. In the run up to the election, former Congress MLA Nishith Patel from the same seat had joined BJP.

The by-poll in Bahoriband was necessitated after sitting BJP MLA Prabhat Pandey, who won the poll in 2013, died. BJP fielded his son Pranav from the seat. Meanwhile, BJP retained the Agar Assembly seat with its candidate Gopal Parmar defeating Congress' Rajkumar Gore by a margin of 27,102 votes.

The by-poll was necessitated in Agar (Malwa) after sitting BJP MLA Manohar Untwal got elected as MP from Dewas Lok Sabha seat.