SP retains Handia assembly seat, wins by-polls comfortably

The Samajwadi Party (SP) retained the Handia assembly seat in the by-election, the result of which was announced on Wednesday. Party candidate Prashant Kumar Singh defeated his nearest rival Pankaj Tripathi of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) by 25,817 votes. BK Singh reports.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) retained the Handia assembly seat in the by-election, the result of which was announced on Wednesday. Party candidate Prashant Kumar Singh defeated his nearest rival Pankaj Tripathi of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) by 25,817 votes.

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The candidate received 81,655 votes. Barring BSP, the security deposits of all 11 candidates, including that of the Congress and the BJP, were forfeited.

Mahesh Narain Singh had won the seat in the 2012 assembly elections on an SP ticket. Following his death in 2013, the party decided to field his son Prashant Singh in the by-election.

Prem Chand Bind of Pragatisheel Manav Samaj Party secured 6,460 votes and came third.

Congress candidate Amrit Lal Bind could not even get 3,000 votes. The BJP candidate Vidya Kant Tewari also had to remain content with less than 4,000 votes.

Earlier, the counting began amidst tight security. The administration had made arrangements to inform people through SMS about the progress in counting.