Cong returns victorious, defeats its own rebel candidate
By News Agency of Kashmir
Jammu : Despite of a tough contest, Congress candidate Jahangir Hussain Mir returned victorious in Poonch-Haveli bye-elections, result of which was declared on Saturday, defeating the rebel candidate of the party Yash Paul Sharma with a margin of 4398 votes.
The counting of the votes begun in Poonch, the district headquarters, amid tight security this morning. The Congress candidate took lead since the first round of the counting and maintained it till the end.
As per official figures Mir polled 20697 votes defeating his nearest rival and Congress rebel leader Yashpal Sharma Independent by 4398 votes. Sharma secured 16299 votes.
National Conference candidate Aijaz Ahmad Jan stood third in the contest as he received 16227 votes while as BJP candidate Pardeep Sharma received 1957 votes.
However, NC rebel candidate Shah Mohammad Tantray also gave a good fight in the election by security 7723 votes. Other independent candidate Iftikhar Bazmi polled 912 votes, Janak Singh 514 and Nisar Hussain 1927 votes.
Poonch-Haveli assembly seat had fallen vacant after the demise of NC MLA GM Jan. The party preferred the son of the deceased MLA as a candidate for the election but the decision turned out to be a wrong one.
Observers believe that Congress, which was facing a direct contest from its own rebel candidate, has set up a tone for the upcoming assembly elections. The party had pressed all its weights in the election especially after a senior party leader Yash Paul Sharma decided to contest the election as an independent candidate.