Haryana: Congress leading after second round of counting in Sonepat’s Baroda bypoll
The by-election for this assembly seat had taken place on November 3
Congress established an early lead in the counting of votes for by election to the Baroda assembly seat in Haryana’s Sonepat district as per initial trends.
Congress nominee Indu Raj Narwal is leading by 662 votes after the second round of counting. Narwal received 5,322 votes, his nearest rival wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 4,660 votes. The Loktantra Suraksha party chief Raj Kumar Saini received 899 votes and Indian National Lok Dal’s (INLD) Joginder Malik got 701 votes.
The by-election for this assembly seat had taken place on November 3.
Sonepat deputy commissioner (DC) Shyam Lal Punia said the counting of votes started at 8am.
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“Six nakas have been established near the counting centre. Three-tier security has been deployed to ensure peaceful counting. The Election Commission of India received a total of 438 postal ballots and 155 ballots of service voters. We urge people to stay at home and avoid large gatherings,” the DC said.
The Baroda assembly seat had recorded an overall turnout of 68% on November 3. There are 14 candidates in the fray from the constituency. The seat became vacant in April following the death of Congress MLA Krishan Hooda, who had won it thrice consecutively in 2009, 2014 and 2019.
While the BJP fielded Olympian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, who lost by about 4,800 votes to Hooda in the 2019 assembly election, the Congress backed a newcomer, Indu Raj Narwal, a former member of the Sonepat zila parishad. Seven independents and four candidates belonging to other parties, including former Kurukshetra MP Raj Kumar Saini, who heads the Loktantra Suraksha Party, are also in the fray from the constituency.
Anant Ram, a retired professor of political science at Bhiwani Government College, said the bypoll is a challenge for Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda to save his bastion and the results will reflect on performance of the BJP-JJP government.
“A win here will underscore Hooda’s hold in the Deshwali belt and restore the Congress tally in the assembly to 31. However, the bypoll is significant for the BJP-JJP government as the outcome will reflect the performance of the government and mood of the voters towards the alliance partner,” he said.
