Munda wins Jharkhand by-poll, to stay as chief minister (Lead)
February 17th, 2011 - 2:06 pm ICT by IANS
Ranchi, Feb 17 (IANS) Arjun Munda of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Kharsawa by-poll in Jharkhand Thursday, clearing the way for him to continue as chief minister.He won by over 17,000 votes, defeating his nearest rival Krishna Gagarai of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P).
“This is a victory of the people of the state. People of Kharsawa have voted for development,” Munda said after winning.
He needed to win the election to become a member of the assembly within six months of becoming chief minister - a constitutional necessity. He was sworn in as chief minister in September.
Counting began at 8 a.m. Till the third round, Munda was trailing behind Gagarai by 860 votes, but he edged past in the subsequent rounds. Munda secured 61,701 votes while rival Gagarai got 44,335 votes.
Munda had won from Kharsawa in 1995 on a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) ticket. He joined the BJP just before the 2000 assembly elections. He again won the seat in 2000 and 2005 on a BJP ticket.
In 2009, BJP’s Mangal Singh Soy had won the seat. He resigned last year to facilitate Munda’s election to the assembly.
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- 70 percent turnout in by-poll to decide Munda's fate (Lead) - Feb 10, 2011
- Opposition to field common candidate against Munda in by-poll - Jan 21, 2011
- JMM undecided, opposition to fight Munda in bypoll - Jan 13, 2011
- Munda faces tough by-poll as campaigning ends - Feb 08, 2011
- JMM to field candidate against Munda in by-poll (Lead) - Jan 13, 2011
- JMM eyes Jameshedpur Lok Sabha seat after Munda victory - Feb 18, 2011
- Munda leads in Jharkhand bypoll - Feb 17, 2011
- Jharkhand ruling alliance bickers over by-poll - Jun 04, 2011
- Munda to be ruling alliance joint nominee for by-poll: Soren - Jan 18, 2011
- Munda files nomination for Kharsawa by-poll - Jan 19, 2011
- BJP backtracks, votes for JMM candidate - Mar 30, 2012
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Tags: assembly elections, bharatiya janata party, bjp, chief minister, krishna, mangal singh, poll, six months, victory, vikas