Rajasthan bypoll: Congress leading in Sardarshahar assembly seat

A total of 2,89,843 voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in the bypoll necessitated by the demise of Congress MLA Bhanwar Lal Sharma, who passed away on October 9 after prolonged illness.

Jaipur: Congress candidate Anil Kumar Sharma has won with huge votes in the Sardarshahar by-election with a margin of 26,852 votes which is being considered as the semi-final of power in Rajasthan in the bypoll. In the initial round, the Congress has got 6,853 votes followed by the BJP with 3,862 votes, and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party of Nagaur MP Hamuman Beniwal with 3,007 votes, according to the Election Commission.

Counting of votes for the bypoll to Sardarshahar Assembly seat in Rajasthan's Churu district began on Thursday morning at 8 am. The constituency recorded a voting percentage of 72.09 per cent on polling day on Monday. A total of 2,89,843 voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in the bypoll necessitated by the demise of Congress MLA Bhanwar Lal Sharma, who passed away on October 9 after prolonged illness.

Polling was held amid tight security arrangements across all 295 booths in the assembly segment. The Congress fielded Sharma's son Anil Kumar while former MLA Ashok Kumar is the BJP candidate. Eight other candidates are in the fray: Lalchand of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), Sanwarmal Meghwal of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Parmana Ram of the Indian People's Green Party, and Independent candidates Subhash Chandra, Vijay Pal Singh Sheoran, Umesh Sahu, Prem Singh, and Surendra Singh Rajpurohit.

In the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, the Congress currently has 107 MLAs, BJP 71, RLP three, CPI(M) and Bhartiya Tribal Party two each, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) one, and 13 are Independents. (PTI)