Chhattisgarh: Congress leading in bypoll to Khairagarh Assembly seat

As per the early trends in Chhattisgarh bypoll elections, Yashoda Verma of the Congress was leading by a margin of 1,242 votes against his nearest rival Komal Janghel of the BJP after three rounds of counting

Counting of votes for the byelections to Khairagarh Assembly seat in Chhattisgarh began on Saturday morning and as per the early trends, the Congress candidate is leading by a margin of 1,242 votes, officials said.

Both the ruling Congress and opposition BJP in the state are eyeing to win the seat that falls in the Naxal-hit Rajnandgaon district, where by-election was necessitated after Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) MLA Devvrat Singh died in November last year.

“The counting of votes in the bypoll held on April 12 in Khairagarh seat began at 8 am at the godwon of state seeds development corporation here,” a poll official said.

As per the early trends, Yashoda Verma of the Congress was leading by a margin of 1,242 votes against his nearest rival Komal Janghel of the BJP after three rounds of counting, he said.

Verma secured 4,436 votes, while Janghel bagged 3,194 votes after the initial rounds of counting. JCC (J) candidate Narendra Soni has secured 49 votes, he said.

The voter turnout in the bypoll for the seat located in state’s Naxal-affected Rajnandgaon district, was 77.88 per cent.

Postal ballots were first taken up for counting followed by votes cast in the EVMs, the official said, adding that the entire process will be done in 21 rounds.