Congress candidate Rupinder Singh Koonar is leading by over 3,283 votes against his BJP rival after eight rounds of counting of votes in Karanpur Assembly seat in Rajasthan’s Sriganganagar district.
Counting of postal ballots started at 8 a.m. while counting of votes cast on EVMs started from 8.30 a.m.
According to the Chief Electoral Office, Mr. Koonar has so far bagged 42,834 votes whereas BJP candidate Surendra Pal Singh has got 39,551 votes. Counting of votes will take place in 18 rounds.
Counting is underway at 17 counters at the Dr. Bheemrao Ambedkar Government College, Sriganganagar.
The seat went under polling on January 5, recording a voter turnout of 81.38%.
The election for this seat was postponed due to the death of a Congress candidate and the then MLA Gurmeet Singh Koonar. The Congress has fielded his son, Rupinder Singh, from the seat.
Surendra Pal Singh has already been inducted into the Rajasthan ministry after the BJP won the Assembly polls, bagging 115 of the 199 seats where the elections were held.
The Congress criticised his induction into the Ministry, terming it a violation of the model code of conduct. According to the rules, Surendra Pal Singh has six months to get elected to the Assembly after being inducted as a Minister.
In the Rajasthan Assembly polls held on November 25, BJP won 115 seats and Congress 69.
BJP's Bhajanlal Sharma took oath as Chief Minister on December 15. Newly elected MLAs Diya Kumari and Premchand Bairwa were made Deputy Chief Ministers.
