BHOPAL: With an exit poll by a newschannel predicting that the ruling BJP could win 16 to 18 seats in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly byelections, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday held a meeting of party leaders here.
Byelections to 28 Assembly seats were held on November 3.
The Aaj Tak-Axis exit poll predicted that the BJP will win 16 to 18 seats while the opposition Congress will be restricted to 10 to 12 seats when votes will be counted on November 10.
"Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, state BJP president V D Sharma and other office-bearers on Saturday took feedback from the party leaders and workers about the bypolls," said state BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal.
Twenty-five constituencies fell vacant due to resignations by Congress MLAs who joined the BJP earlier this year, resulting in the collapse of the Congress government.
In three seats, death of sitting legislators necessitated byelections.
With one more seat falling vacant recently with resignation of the Congress MLA, the effective strength of the 230-member MP assembly is reduced to 229.
The BJP currently has 107 members and requires eight more MLAs to attain a simple majority, while the Congress' tally stands at 87.
Among other members, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has two legislators, while the Samajwadi Party (SP) has one member besides four Independents.