JMM candidate leading in Dumri bypoll in Jharkhand

JMMs Bebi Devi was leading by 6,536 votes over her nearest AJSU Party rival Yashoda Devi in the by-election to the Dumri Assembly seat in Jharkhands Giridih district on Friday, officials said.After 18 rounds of counting, the JMM candidate, who is the INDIA bloc nominee, secured 72,042 votes, while the AJSU party candidate, an NDA nominee, got 65,506 votes, they said.

JMM's Bebi Devi was leading by 6,536 votes over her nearest AJSU Party rival Yashoda Devi in the by-election to the Dumri Assembly seat in Jharkhand's Giridih district on Friday, officials said.

After 18 rounds of counting, the JMM candidate, who is the INDIA bloc nominee, secured 72,042 votes, while the AJSU party candidate, an NDA nominee, got 65,506 votes, they said. Giridih deputy commissioner-cum-district election officer Naman Priyesh Lakra told PTI that the counting of votes began at 8 am on Friday for the by-election amid tight security.

On reports of a delay of around 10 minutes, he said counting of postal ballots had started at 8 am.

The polling for the by-election was held on September 5. Of the total 2.98 lakh eligible voters, 64.84 per cent had cast their votes.

The bypoll was necessitated by the death of JMM MLA Jagarnath Mahto, the state's Education Minister, in April. He had been representing the seat since 2004.

The JMM has fielded Mahto's wife Bebi Devi as the candidate of the INDIA bloc, while the AJSU Party has nominated Yashoda Devi as the NDA candidate.