NEW DELHI, 3 September 2007 — Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s (JMM) Suman Mahto yesterday won the by-election to the Jamshedpur parliamentary seat in Jharkhand, defeating her nearest Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rival by a margin of 58,816 votes.
Mahto polled 293,003 votes while BJP’s Dinesh Kumar Sarangi bagged 234,187 votes at the end of counting for the by-election that was held Aug. 29.
The election was necessitated after JMM leader Sunil Mahto, Suman’s husband, was shot dead March 4.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda said Mahto’s victory reflected the people’s faith in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments both at the center and in the state. Deputy Chief Minister Sudhir Mahto attributed the victory as “people’s tribute” to their leader Sunil Mahto. The BJP dismissed reports that internal bickering had led to the defeat of its candidate.
Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri secured a majority for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in state by defeating his nearest Congress rival by over 14,000 votes in a by-election to the Dhumakot assembly seat in the state.
Khanduri polled 22,708 votes while Congress’ Surendra Singh Negi got 8,537 votes. Independent candidate Manish Sunderiyal received 848 votes.
The bye-election was held Aug. 29.
With yesterday’s win, the BJP gained the majority mark of 36 MLAs in the 70-member house. It has also got the support of the three-member Uttarakhand Kranti Dal as well as three independent MLAs.
BJP workers celebrated the chief minister’s victory by bursting crackers and distributing sweets at the party headquarters and also at Dhumakot.
The election to Dhumakot was necessitated after Congress leader T.P.S Rawat quit the seat in favor of Khanduri. Rawat has since joined the BJP and is likely to contest the Pauri parliamentary seat, which will be vacated by the chief minister.
