MP: Man dies days before Panchayat polls in Sagar, his son elected Sarpanch in by-election

Thakur Ravindra Singh passed away due to a cardiac arrest on June 22 last year, days ahead of the MP Panchayat election leaving the seat open.

Sagar: The son of a Sarpanch who emerged victorious posthumously in the Madhya Pradesh Gram Panchayat elections in July last year, has been elected in the by-election on the seat in Sagar district, officials said on Wednesday. As per officials, Rajvardhan Singh, son of late Thakur Ravindra Singh won the election by 384 votes in the recently held by-election of Kanjera Gram Panchayat of Deori development block in Sagar district.

His victory is special because his father Thakur Ravindra Singh was in the fray in the Panchayat elections held in July 2022. The Panchayat election for the post of Sarpanch in Kanjera Gram Panchayat was held on July 1, but Singh passed away due to cardiac arrest on June 22 leaving the seat open. After the Election Commission was not informed about the incident beforehand, when the elections were held, Singh's name was there in the ballot paper on the poll day.

On the counting day, Singh emerged victorious by defeating his nearest rival Chandrabhan Ahirwar by 255 votes. Ravindra Singh secured 512 out of 1043 total votes. It is said that after his death, the locals voted in large numbers for Singh out of sympathy by remembering the development works done during Singh's previous tenure.

After his death, a by-election was necessitated on the seat. Singh's son Rajvardhan Singh Rajvardhan Singh contested the election and won by 384 votes, an official said on Wednesday. Rajvardhan said that the villagers have a lot of sympathy and voted for him. He assured the locals that he will try his best to develop the village.

Pertinently, deceased Thakur's sister-in-law Simlesh Surendra Singh has been the district president and his elder brother Surendra Singh has been the vice-president of the district panchayat.