74% polling in Bhagwanpur byelection

Tribune News Service

Haridwar, April 11

A high voter turnout was witnessed in the Bhagwanpur Assembly byelection here today. The latest report stated that 74 per cent of polling was recorded with voters still queued up outside several polling centres.

District election officer Harish Chand Semwal said the byelection was peaceful, and no untoward incident had been reported from 16 sectors and three zones of the Assembly segment.

Semwal along with SSP Sweety Aggarwal monitored the election proceedings and inspected all zones. The SSP said besides state police, personnel of 1 Platoon of the Provincial Armed Constabulary, two sections of the BSF, quick response team, bomb disposal squad, elite commandos of Guldaar, sniffer dogs, and a cavalry unit were deployed.

Congress candidate Mamta Rakesh, wife of late minister Surendra Rakesh, cast her vote and exuded confidence that she would win the byelection with a huge margin. BJP candidate Rajpal Singh also claimed that he would win the seat as he had worked at the grass-roots level and there was a perceptible change in the mood of Bhagwanpur voters.

Uttarakhand Kranti Dal candidate Gurmel, and Independents candidates Darshana Devi Rathore, Deepak Surya and Pritam Singh are the other contestants. The counting of votes would be held at the Roshanabad Collectorate office in Haridwar on April 15.