India
The BJP has won by a margin of 12,935 votes in the Jind by-poll, with Jannayak Janata Party's Digvijay Chautala and Congress's Randeep Surjewala finishing second and third respectively
New Delhi: After the final count in the Jind by-poll, the BJP has won by a margin of 12,935 votes. The Congress was way behind in this battle of prestige, with bigwig Randeep Surjewala finishing third. Digvijay Chautala of the newly-found Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) finished second.
Surjewala, who is an MLA from Haryana and holds the powerful national media-in-charge post, volunteered to fight from the seat; and the Congress threw its might to win with leaders like Jitender Singh and Deepender Singh Hooda campaigning there.
With the BJP’s three-state defeat in the recently-held Assembly elections, the Congress was confident about the anti-incumbency.
However, the grand old party forgot to take note that the sentiments of the people of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh did not resonate with the people of Haryana, where the BJP swept to power in the recent mayoral elections in five cities of the state- Hisar, Karnal, Panipat, Rohtak, and Yamunanagar.
Soon after the BJP gained momentum in the race, the Opposition cried foul about EVM malfunctioning. There was a technical glitch in some of the EVM of the Jind by-poll, as there was a mismatch in serial numbers.
Both the JJP and Congress wanted the counting to stop even after the glitch was rectified. In fact, there was a commotion when police had to resort to mild lathi-charge to disperse the crowd.
Haryana:Police lathi charge outside the counting venue of Jind by-polls following a ruckus. SP Jind Ashwin Shenvi says,“There was unlawful assembly which didn’t disperse when we asked them to leave.We had to use slight force to disperse them.Situation normal now.Counting underway pic.twitter.com/lpkTnrFYo5
— ANI (@ANI)Only authorised representatives are allowed in the close vicinity of any counter centre. Jind SP Ashwin Shenvi has confirmed the incident saying, "We had to use slight force to disperse them. The situation is normal now."
Confronted with a loss of face, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that the seat was anyway not a Congress stronghold. This premature comment is also reflective of the competitive equation both Hooda and Surjewala share, in spite of them both being Congressmen.
Randeep Surjewala on Jind bypoll result: I hope Manohar Lal Khattar and Krishna Middha ji will fulfil the dreams of the people of Jind. I was given a responsibility by the party which I fulfilled to the best of my abilities, I congratulate Krishna Middha ji. pic.twitter.com/O97opemVsY
— ANI (@ANI)A loss did not harm the Congress as much as a third position has in the Jind by-poll, that was held following the death of INLD MLA Hari Chand Midha. His son, who is the BJP candidate from the seat, has emerged the winner.
The momentum that was created following the three-election-win by the Congress is now going to be punctuated with this massive loss, by one of its key faces and a close Rahul Gandhi aide.
Similarly, the BJP cadres, whose morale have been at an all-time-low ever since the Assembly election drubbing, is likely to find new motivation to fight afresh for the crucial 2019 general election, where Narendra Modi is seeking a second term.
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