New Delhi: Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) registered a huge victory in the Rajouri Garden Assembly by-poll in the national capital on Thursday handing a humiliating defeat to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, which finished a distant third and even lost the deposit.
BJP-SAD joint candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa bagged 40,602 seats, over 50% of the total votes polled, in a boost for the saffron party ahead of the April 23 municipal polls.
Congress’ Meenakshi Chandela finished second with 25,950 votes while AAP’s Harjeet Singh managed to get only 10,243 votes, less than one-sixth of the total votes polled, and lost deposit.
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In terms of vote share, the Congress staged a turnaround of sorts by getting around 33% of the total votes cast, in a jump of over 21% over the 2015 Assembly polls.
Around 47% of the over 1.6 lakh electors of the west Delhi seat had cast their vote on April 9.
With the victory, the BJP’s tally in the 70-member Delhi Assembly will become four. The Congress does not have any presence in the House.
The seat fell vacant early this year after AAP’s Jarnail Singh quit as MLA to contest the Punjab Assembly poll against SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal.
(With PTI inputs)