Former Rajasthan minister Pramod Jain Bhaya (Congress) was declared elected in the Anta assembly bypoll defeating Morpal Suman (BJP) by a margin of 15,612 votes in a high-voltage triangular contest.
Three-time ex-MLA Bhaya secured 69,571 votes while his nearest BJP rival Suman bagged 53,959 votes closely followed by former Congress rebel Naresh Meena (IND) who got 53,800 votes.
The battle-of-ballot in the Southeastern region of Rajasthan was fought so keenly among Bhaya, Suman, and Naresh Meena (IND) that uncertainty out the outcome remained till the last minute as a slender to modest margin of votes among the three contenders remained throughout the course of counting that concluded in 20 rounds.
The neck-and-neck fight began with the BJP nominee Suman’s slender lead in counting of the postal service and votes polled in home voting. However, as soon as the actual round of counting of votes in EVMs began, the Congress old guard overcame this slender lead by the end of the first round itself. Thereafter, the Congress nominee did not look back and maintained his lead, though modest only, throughout.
The worst part of the drill was that the ruling BJP nominee could chase the winner only until the conclusion of round two of counting, later from third to fifteenth round Suman was trailing on the third place behind Bhaya and Meena. It was only sixteenth round onwards that the ruling party candidate managed to return to the second position, however, yet again during 19th round Meena pushed him down to third slot by a slender margin of around 150 votes. Even until the final closing of the counting, the BJP nominee Suman could regain 2nd position, exceeding Meena’s vote tally merely by 159 votes.
Meanwhile, Jubilation broke out at the Congress state headquarters in Jaipur even before the completion of the final 20th round of the counting of votes with PCC president Govind Singh Dotasra and LoP Rajasthan Tika Ram Jully joined the party cadres in celebrations and distributing sweets. Dotasra greeted the party’s winner Bhaya and the voters of Anta assembly segment saying, “I salute the janata of Anta for reposing faith in the Congress and its nominee Bhaya”.
Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also expressed gratitude to the people (voters) for electing Bhaya for the assembly. “The win in Anta symbolises the faith and confidence reposed by people of Anta in the leadership of Congress President Malikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi,” he said.
The ruling BJP state President Madan Rathore humbly conceded defeat saying “We respect people’s mandate, though we contested the polls diligently with unified all out efforts even though we would review the party performance at the hustings and would introspect ourselves appropriately”.