Jaipur: The ruling BJP in Rajasthan has lost the Anta assembly seat to Congress in the by-election. The Congress candidate Pramod Jain Bhaya won the bypoll with 69,571 votes, defeating his nearest rival and BJP nominee Morpal Suman by a margin of 15,612 votes, according to the Election Commission.
Suman got 53,959 votes, beating Independent candidate and Congress rebel Naresh Meena, who was initially in second place, by 159 votes in a tantalisingly close contest.
The Congress candidate Bhaya, who was minister in the previous Ashok Gehlot regime, maintained the lead throughout the counting, while BJP candidate Morpal Suman had to struggle to secure the second position as the independent candidate Naresh Meena gave a tough fight to both Congress and BJP candidates by getting 53,800 votes.
The by-election became a prestigious battle due to the involvement of senior leaders like former CM Vasundhara Raje, as this seat is part of the Baran-Jhalawar seat represented by her son Dushyant Singh, while the Congress candidate Bhaya himself is a senior leader of Congress.
BJP had won the Anta seat in the assembly elections, but the MLA from the seat, Kanwar Lal Meena, was declared unqualified after being sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a 20-year-old case.
