By IANS
Jammu : The Congress has won the Poonch-Haveli assembly by-poll in a remarkable victory in over three decades.
Congress candidate Jehangir Mir polled more than 20,697 votes, while party rebel Yashpal Sharma polled 16,299 votes and National Conference nominee Aijaz Jan polled 16,227 votes, according to results of the Dec 12 by-election declared on Saturday.
The vacancy was caused by the death of National Conference’s Mohammad Jan early this year.
It is for the first time since 1972 that the Congress has won the Poonch seat.
There was a tri-angular contest between the Congress, the Congress rebel and the National Conference candidate. The constituency, having 96,000 voters, had recorded more than 60 percent polling on Wednesday. It borders Pakistan-controlled Kashmir in the north of Jammu.
The victory is seen as a morale boosting victory for the Congress ahead of the assembly polls scheduled sometime before November 2008.