BJP candidate wins Iglas seat by margin of over 25K votes

Agra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Raj Kumar Sahyogi on Wednesday won the Iglas assembly by-election by a margin of over 25,000 votes, defeating his nearest

Agra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Raj Kumar Sahyogi on Wednesday won the Iglas assembly by-election by a margin of over 25,000 votes, defeating his nearest rival Abhay Kumar ‘Bunty’ of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

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When the counting of votes began, the BJP leaders had some anxious moments as the first three rounds went against them and the BSP candidate began with a marginal lead.

However, the BJP candidate increased his lead from the fourth round and finally won by a margin of 25,937 votes.

To recall, nomination papers of Samajwadi Party supported Rashtriya Lok Dal candidate were rejected. The RLD had won the seat in 2012 assembly election, but lost to BJP in the 2017 assembly election.

Due to dominance of Jat voters, the Iglas seat is also termed by many as a ‘mini Chhaprauli’. Late Chaudhary Charan Singh’s wife Gayatri Devi and daughter Gyanwati Devi have won from this seat in the past.

The BJP candidate got 75,472 votes while the BSP candidate bagged 49,472 votes. The Congress candidate got 10,786 votes. As many as 1,46,192 votes were cast during polling in three blocks of Iglas on October 21.

During polling, there were banners stating ‘no development – no vote’ as citizens used the opportunity to highlight their problems. Administrative officials were found trying to convincing the voters. The polling percentage also remained low (36%).

The bypoll was an outcome of BJP candidate Rajveer Singh Diler moving to Hathras for contesting Lok Sabha election. He won the seat.