Alwar: The Congress candidate for the Ramgarh assembly election in Rajasthan is leading with a margin of over 5,000 votes, officials said Thursday.
In five out of the total 20 rounds of counting for the polls, Congress’s Zubair secured 24,107 votes while BJP’s Sukhwant Singh has got 18,616 votes, they said.
BSP’s Jagat singh is trailing at third position.
There will be a total of 20 rounds. Ballot papers will be counted first followed by counting of votes polled on electronic voting machines, the officials said.
Polling on the seat was deferred owing to a fatal heart attack suffered by BSP candidate Laxman Singh on November 29. The Election Commission then decided to conduct the polling along with the Jind by-elections on January 28.
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Ramgarh had witnessed a voter turnout of 79.12 per cent on polling day, well over the 74.21 per cent count for the assembly elections. The constituency has over 2.35 lakh eligible voters.
A victory on the seat will help the Congress touch 100 in the 200-member House, reducing its dependence on support from other non-BJP parties.
In case the ruling party loses, it will have to bank on the support from Independent MLAs and other non-BJP parties.
However, Congress leaders on different occasions have said that the party has support from Independents, the BSP and the RLTP and there is no threat to the government’s stability.
At present, Congress has 99 MLAs, RLD 1, BJP 73, BSP 6, RLTP 3, CPI (M) and BTP 2 each. Besides, there are 13 Independent MLAs.
BSP has fielded former Union Minister Natwar Singh’s son Jagat Singh. Shafia Zubair is the Congress candidate while Sukhwant singh is fighting on BJP ticket.