Stones thrown in Bihar’s Kaimur over delay in announcing Ramgarh poll result

SP Hari Mohan Shukla said three paramilitary personnel were injured in the violence. An official vehicle was also torched by the mob.

BHABUA: Three personnel of the central police forces deployed in Bihar’s Kaimur district were injured when supporters of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate from Ramgarh allegedly threw stones at them outside the counting centre at the district’s Bazar Samiti Mohania campus on Friday night.

Police said the BSP candidate’s supporters accused election officials of trying to manipulate the outcome. Ramgarh is the only seat in Bihar that was won by the BSP (PTI Videograb)

Police said the supporters of BSP candidate Satish Kumar Singh Yadav were angry at the delay in announcing the results and accused local Election Commission of India (ECI) officials of trying to manipulate the outcome in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Ashok Kumar Singh. The mob also torched the government vehicle and tried to enter the counting centre.

Superintendent of police Hari Mohan Shukla said three paramilitary personnel were injured in the violence, and the mob burned down an official vehicle.

Police officers stated that the violence was triggered by delays in announcing the results for the Ramgarh assembly constituency, where the BSP candidate had been leading by a narrow margin.

The Election Commission later announced that the BSP candidate Satish Kumar Singh Yadav won the seat by a margin of 30 votes.

According to election data, the BSP candidate secured 72,689 votes including 307 postal votes, against the BJP candidate Ashok Kumar Singh’s 72,659 votes.

There was no official word from Election Commission officials. District magistrate Sunil Kumar and Returning Officer Kamla Kant Trivedi could not be contacted for information about the counting despite repeated calls to their phones.

Police said security personnel lobbed teargas shells and used baton charge to control the situation and disperse the mob, which levelled accusations at the administration before the election result was announced.