Bishnoi wins Hisar poll by 23,000 votes, Congress ranked third

2.20pm: Haryana Janhit Congress-BJP candidate Kuldeep Bishnoi won the Hisar by-poll by 23,000 votes defeating INLD’s Ajay Chauthala and Congress candidate Jai Parkrash. In the wake of anti-Congress campaign by Team Anna recently, the loss for Congress means much more than a mere electoral rolls.

1.06pm: Haryana Janhit Congress-BJP candidate Kuldeep Bishnoi is set to win the Hisar Lok Sabha seat by 21,576 votes as he is comfortably ahead of INLD’s Ajay Chauthala and Congress candidate Jai Parkrash. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that the party would analyse the reason for the defeat. Social activist Medha Patkar said it would do good to the Congress if leaders like Rahul Gandhi gives unconditional support to Lokpal. 12.00pm: Congress’ Jai Parkrash is a doing a 2009 deja vu at third position with a paltry 82,569 votes. Haryana Janhit Congress-BJP candidate Kuldeep Bishnoi is unwilling to give credit to Team Anna for his massive lead he presently has over his rivals. The counting is still on. At the time of publishing this update, Bishnoi had got 2,26,854 votes. INLD’s Ajay Chauthala is in second place with 1,97,127 votes.

In another poll stories, Telangana Rashtrtiya Samithi Sriniwas Reddy wins Banswada by-poll by 50,000 votes. In Khadakwasla, BJP’s Bhimrao Tapkir wins the seat. He teamed with RPI and Shiv Sena.

11.30am: Haryana Janhit Congress-BJP candidate Kuldeep Bishnoi has left his competitors in the dust, winning 1,73,178 votes at last count. He has also increased his lead over his nearest rival, INLD’s Ajay Chauthala by 21,795 votes. Chauthala has 151,586 votes at present. Congress’s Jai Parkrash is a doing a 2009 deja vu at third position with a paltry 62,511 votes.

11.00am: The Congress is heading for a replay of its 2009 general election poll fiasco in Hisar with its candidate Jai Parkash trailing by a massive 50,637 votes. The Haryana Janhit Congress-BJP candidate Kuldeep Bishnoi is leading the fray at present with 1,28,739 votes. Indian National Lok Dal candidate Ajay Chauthala is in second place with 96538 votes.

9:45 am: As you read this the counting for the Hisar by-poll has begun and it won’t be long until we find out who benefitted politically from this Team Anna versus Congress battle. In early trends Kuldeep Bishnoi is leading by 38,000 votes.

The three way contest—among Congress, Haryana Janhit Congress-BJP combine and Indian National Lok Dal—now holds a huge symbolic importance. In case, the Congress candidate bites the dust, Team Anna will waste no time to showcase it as their victory and people’s anti-Congress tirade. But if the Congress candidate does indeed come second or improve his previous showing, there will be implications for Team Anna.

Take a look again at the candidates in the fray:

There’s Jai Prakash of the Congress—a three-time MP from Hisar—he finished third in the 2009 elections. Every pro-Anna and anti-Congress ballot polled will benefit Kuldeep Bishnoi of the Haryana Janhit Congress. He is the son of former chief minister Bhajan Lal. He also enjoys BJP’s support. Finally there’s Ajay Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal. He is former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala’s son. Ajay is the MLA from Dabwali in Sirsa.

On any other day, a by-poll would have passed unnoticed or perhaps with a small headline in minimum space. On the contrary, the Hisar by-poll on 13 October, became a battlefront for the Congress and Team Anna. The seat suddenly came to prominence when Team Anna plunged into the battle urging the electorate to vote against the Congress as the party allegedly failed to deliver on the Jan Lokpal.

The situation assumed serious proportions for the Congress as it was facing both political and non-political opponents in a poll situation with the party’s clout at stake. Prominent Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia campaigned against the Congress in Hisar while Anna Hazare launched a scathing attack against the Congress with an anti-Congress speech on a CD that was widely broadcasted and written about in the media.