Earlier, in the 2023 assembly elections, Rajendra Bharti of the Congress party was elected MLA from Datia. He defeated the powerful BJP leader and then-state Home Minister Narottam Mishra. However, Rajendra Bharti was later convicted by Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court in the Cooperative Bank scam case and sentenced to three years in prison. Consequently, his assembly membership was revoked, leaving the seat vacant. This necessitated a by-election in Datia.
The case in which Rajendra Bharti has been convicted dates back to 1998, when he was the president of the Datia District Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank. The allegation was that he opened a 10 lakh rupee fixed deposit in the name of his mother, Savitri Shyam, with an interest rate of 13.5 percent. Later, when interest rates fell, he manipulated the documents and extended the term of the deposit from three years to 15 years, ensuring he could continue to benefit from the previous higher interest rate. While the Datia seat has long been considered a stronghold of Narottam Mishra, after losing the previous election, the BJP surprised everyone by fielding Ashutosh Tiwari in his place in this by-election.