Mizo front forges ahead

AIZAWAL, Nov 28 (UNI) — The Opposition Mizo National Front — Mizo Peoples' Conference combine — forged ahead of the ruling Congress, bagging nine of the 14 assembly seats, as counting of votes in Wednesday's battle of the ballot progressed this evening.

The Congress suffering major reverses trailed far behind with four seats, the MNF bagged seven seats, while the MPC got two. One seat went to an Independent.

Among the prominent winners were MNF president Zoramthanga, his party colleague and former Education Minister Malsawma and MPC working president Lalhmingthanga.

The Congress suffered a major setback when assembly Speaker Vaivenga and Mr Lalkhama, an adviser to Chief Minister Lalthanhawla, lost to their MNF rivals.

Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate Annapurna Devi was leading over her BJP rival Ramesh Singh by over 5,000 votes on completion of the second round of counting in Koderma assembly constituency.

In Purnea CPM candidate Madhvi Sarkar had established a comfortable lead of over 10,000 votes over her BJP rival Sudhir Prasad Chaudhury on completion of the second round.

Mr Iqbal Kakuji of the Congress has established a lead of nearly 2,000 votes over his nearest rival Mansukh Vasava (BJP) in the Bharuch Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat after the first round of counting at 1500 hours today.

According to state election office sources, of the 18,000 votes counted so far, Mr Kakuji had polled 8,515 votes while Mr Vasava's tally was 6,526 and that of Janata Dal candidate Chhotubhai Vasava's 2,521.

Akalis lose Adampur seat
From AS Prashar and Jasmine Sandhu Sandhawalia
Tribune News Service

JALANDHAR, Nov 28 — In a major upset, the Congress party today won the prestigious Adampur byelection to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha.

The Congress candidate, Mr Kanwaljit Singh Lalli, was declared elected, defeating his nearest Akali Dal (B) rival, Mr Dalbir Singh Dhirowal, by just six votes. Mr Lalli polled 35,285 votes against 35,279 secured by Mr Dhirowal. The third major candidate, Ms Vidwant Kaur (BSP) polled 8365 votes, while Mr Anoop Singh Minhas (Akali Dal-A) secured only 1862 votes. Both losers forfeited their security deposits.

The Adampur seat returns to the Congress after more than three decades. The previous Congress man to be elected from Adampur was Mr Darshan Singh in 1967.

For the Akali Dal, the result of the byelection represented a great setback. The Akali Dal supremo and Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal's personal prestige was at stake in the election. The stakes were equally high for the PPCC chief, Capt Amarinder Singh.

Earlier, mixing of votes took place in the morning and counting began around 10 a.m. At the end of the first round, the Akali candidate was leading by 1303 votes. At the end of the second round, the lead was reduced to 729. By the end of third round, the Congress had established a clear lead of 807 votes. It was reduced to just 490 votes at the end of fourth round. The Akali Dal forged ahead in the next round and at the end of fifth round, it had established a lead of 671 votes. It was, however, wiped out in the sixth and final round, at the end of which the Congress led by just six votes.

Earlier, high drama was witnessed at the counting centre when the declaration of result was held up tonight for several hours pending a reference to the Election Commission of India.

Tension ran high inside the Hans Raj Stadium hall where the counting of votes took place amid tight security, when the general secretary of the SAD, Mr Balwinder Singh Bhunder, MP, demanded a recount. The general secretary of the Congress, Mr Bir Devinder Singh, voicferously opposed the demand, saying it was totally unjustified at this stage.

Mrs Sarojini Sharda Gautam, Returning Officer, pointed out that all candidates, including those of the SAD and the Congress, had signed the total number of votes polled by them at the end of each round. None of the candidates had raised any objection earlier. Therefore, a recount was not possible and she was sending her recommendation to the Election Commission.

Mr Bhunder claimed that "fiddling" with a computer in the counting hall by officials while the counting was on had led to the small lead by the Congress candidate. This was challenged by Mr Bir Devinder Singh which led to an argument between the two as also with the Returning Officer.

Earlier, election agents of the Congress candidate objected to the presence of Mr Jaskaran Singh Chahal, SP (CID), in the counting hall. He was seen by the poll agents as well as mediamen going from table to table. He was asked to leave the hall immediately by the Returning Officer.

Tension built up outside the counting centre where supporters of the Congress and the SAD gathered in strength and raised slogans. A strong posse of the armed police kept them apart. The main road leading to the counting hall was sealed.

BJP wins Baijnath seat
Tribune News Service

DHARMSALA, Nov 28 — The BJP won the Baijnath byelection, as its candidate, Mr Dulo Ram, defeated his Congress rival, Mr Sudhir Sharma, by a margin of 6,897 votes.

Right from the first round, Mr Dulo Ram, gained respectable lead over his nearest Congress rival, Mr Sudhir Sharma. All other four contestants in the fray lost their security deposits.

Of the 36,489 valid votes polled, Mr Dulo Ram, got 21,092, and was declared elected by 6,897 votes. The Congress candidate, Mr Sudhir Sharma, got a total of 14,195 votes. A total of 221 votes were found to be invalid.

The Baijnath seat has traditionally been a Congress one, as its stalwart Mr Sant Ram, had represented it for a very long period. Mr Dulo Ram had lost the last Assembly elections in February this year, to Mr Sant Ram, by a margin of about 900 votes. During the byelection this time, Mr Dulo Ram, was pitted against Mr Sudhir Sharma, son of Mr Sant Ram.

Counting of votes started in the morning in the presence of the Deputy Commissioner, Mr B. K. Aggarwal and the election observer, Mr Deepak Gupta.

As news of the BJP gaining a lead over the Congress spread, BJP supporters gathered in large numbers outside the counting centre. As the BJP's lead kept on increasing with more rounds, the jubilant party workers set off fireworks. Later, party workers took out victory procession in Baijnath town.

CPM sweeps WB bypoll

Calcutta, Nov 28 (PTI) — The Trinamool Congress-BJP combine today suffered a serious setback with its candidates losing all the three seats to the ruling CPM in the Assembly bypoll in West Bengal.

For the Marxists the victory was significant as in two constituencies — Mayureswar and Nandanpur — which witnessed straight contests, the Trinamool-BJP combine failed to cash in on anti-Left votes.

The results indicated that BJP candidate Arjun Saha who was trounced by Vishnu of the CPM by 15,641 votes in Mayureswar managed to bag the entire kitty of Congress votes. Saha had polled 25,273 votes in the 1996 Assembly election and the Congress candidate 19,015 votes.

The Congress was not in the race in Mayureswar in the bypoll following the cancellation of its candidate’s nomination on technical grounds.

On the other hand, CPM polled more votes compared to the Assembly election two years ago.

In Nandanpur, Trinamool Congress candidate Soumen Mahapatra was defeated by Omar Ali (CPM) by a thin margin of 1148 votes. The Congress-backed independent polled just 312 votes.

But the party experienced the biggest jolt in Baruipur where Trinamool Congress candidate Arup Bhadra was humiliated by Sujan Chakraborty of CPM by a huge margin of 23,292 votes.