Jind, January 31: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Krishan Middha on Thursday won the Jind bypoll by 12,935 votes.
Middha polled 50,566 votes and Digvijay Chautala of the Jannayak Janata Party got 35,293 votes.
Congress national spokesman Randeep Surjewala was trailing at the third position with 22740 votes and IINLD polled 3,454 votes.
Meanwhile, the counting of votes was stopped for a while after a ruckus over missing EVMs at the counting centre at the Arjuna stadium.
The counting, however, resumed after additional CRPF force was deployed at the centre.
The counting agents of different candidates alleged that EVMs were missing from table numbers 4 and 5, and they walked out in protest.
The Haryana Police and paramilitary forces used canes to disperse the protesters.
Earlier, the INLD candidate had accused the police of misbehaving with him. He alleged that his agent was not allowed inside the counting centre.
Candidates, including Congress leader Randeep Surjewala and JJP leader Digvijay Chautala, reached the counting centre as soon as the counting began at the Arjuna stadium.
The returning officer has asked the counting agents of candidates to submit their complaints in writing.
Meanwhile, the mobile internet services in Jind town are down.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said he was confident that the BJP would register a comfortable victory. “We expect a big lead in urban areas though we trailed in rural segments,” he said.
Voting for the byelection took place on January 28 with nearly 76 per cent of the 1.72 lakh voters exercising their franchise in the multi-cornered contest.
The test was for all four major parties in the fray—the ruling BJP, Congress, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the newly launched Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) as both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections were to be held later this year.
The fate of the four main candidates, Randeep Singh Surjewala (Congress), Krishan Lal Middha (BJP), Umed Singh (INLD) and Digvijay Singh Chautala (JJP), will be decided.
The bypoll was necessitated after the death of two-time INLD legislator Hari Chand Middha, whose son is in the fray on a BJP ticket.
