Gurdaspur by-election: Congress' Sunil Jakhar leaves BJP's Swaran Salaria far behind as counting nears end

Gurdaspur: Congress candidate Sunil Jakhar was leading by 68,172 votes over his nearest rival BJP contestant Swaran Salaria in the counting of votes for the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll, as per available trends. [caption id=“attachment_4024771” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] Jakhar is leading in all nine Assembly constituencies. The counting for the by-election started at 8 am. Meanwhile, AAP candidate Major General (Retd) Suresh Khajuria accused the Congress of using “undemocratic means” in the bypoll. “Ruling party used undemocratic means in these elections. People were scared and the youth was almost absent in the bypoll. If they (Congress) win then that victory will not be a respectable one,” Khajuria alleged. Two counting centres have been set up for the counting of votes. For six assembly constituencies of Gurdaspur district, counting center has been set up at Sukhjindra College Gurdaspur and for three assembly constituencies of Pathankot district, counting centre has been set up at the SD College in Pathankot. Tight security arrangements have been made at the counting centres, official said. The Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat has nine Assembly segments — Bhoa, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Dinanagar, Qadian, Fathegarh Churian, Dera Baba Nanak, Sujanpur and Batala. The result will decide the fate of total 11 candidates including Congress nominee Jakhar, BJP’s Salaria and AAP’s Khajuria.