Rajnandgaon: Congress candidate Yashoda Verma has won the Khairagarh assembly by-election, defeating BJP candidate Komal Janghel, by a margin of more than 20,000 votes. Verma's victory was decided after the completion of the 21st round of counting votes. Janghel, meanwhile, said that she accepted the people's verdict.
Verma started her political career as a Sarpanch, followed by a stint as the District Panchayat member as well as President of the block Congress committee. Significantly, the party led by Bhupesh Baghel had announced that it would make Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai a separate district. Currently, th seat is part of the Rajnandgaon district.
Notably, both Verma and Janghel, hail from the OBC community, numerically strong in the district. With the victory in the Khairagarh by-election, Congress has got 71 seats in Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly. BJP and BSP have 14 and two seats respectively, while JCCJ has three seats.
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