Rajinder Nagar bypoll: AAP candidate leads over BJP's by 10,000 votes after 9th round of counting

AAP candidate Durgesh Pathak surged ahead with a margin of over 10,000 votes over his immediate rival, BJP's Rajesh Bhatia, after nine rounds of counting on Sunday for the Rajinder Nagar assembly bypoll, according to the official data.

Pathak's lead was of over 5,000 votes over BJP's Bhatia, after seven rounds of counting on Sunday for the Rajinder Nagar assembly bypoll.

Numbers showed that at the end of the sixth round of counting, Pathak was leading over Bhatia by a margin of nearly 3,000 votes, which rose to over 5,000 by the end of the seventh round and then further to over 10,000 votes at the end of the ninth round of counting.

At the beginning of the counting, Pathak was leading with over 1,500 votes, but the margin reduced to 1,153 by the end of the fifth round.

After the ninth round of counting, Pathak had secured 60.24 percent of the votes counted, according to the official data shared by authorities.

Bhatia was behind him with a 36.02 percent share of the votes counted in the ninth round.

Congress candidate Prem Lata was trailing with a meager 2.25 percent vote share in the same round.

Bypoll to the crucial assembly seat had taken place on June 23 with a low turnout of 43.75 percent. Fourteen candidates threw their hats in the fray, which has largely been seen as a battle between a confident AAP and a spirited BJP.

The counting of votes began at 8 AM amid tight security arrangements.