Hisar, October 17: Counting of votes is underway in the Hisar Lok Sabha bypoll held on October 13. After two rounds of counting, Haryana Janhit Congress’ (HJC) Kuldeep Bishnoi is leading his nearest rival, Ajay Chautala of INLD.
Jai Prakash of Congress, against whom Team Anna had campaigned, was third.
At 9.53 am, when the last update was made available, Kuldeep Bishnoi has secured 51,279 votes while Ajay Singh Chautala has got 43,690 votes, while Jai Prakash is a distant third at 21,7091 votes.
As the lead margin of Bishnoi over Chautala is only 7589 votes, the contest is still wide open; however the chances of Jai Prakash making a surprise comeback are decreasing by the minute.
In all there are 40 candidates, mostly independents, in the fray. Of the independents only Om Prakash Kalyan has secured more than 1000 votes with 3890 people voting in his favour.
Haryana’s Chief Electoral Officer Sumita Misra said the final results are likely to be out by 2.00 pm.
The bypoll had become a national focus after the Anna factor raised the stakes for the Congress in a triangular fight.
Anna Hazare and his team had campaigned against the Congress in the run-up to the bypoll, to press the national party on their demand for a strong Lokpal.
The bypoll had witnessed a turnout of nearly 69 per cent.
The polling was necessitated due to the death of sitting MP Bhajan Lal of Haryana Janhit Congress in June.
—Agencies