Congress wins by-election to Jharkhand's Mandar seat

Congress candidate Shilpi Neha Tirkey won the by-election to Jharkhand's Mandar seat on Sunday, defeating her nearest rival, BJP's Gangotri Kujur, by a margin of 23,517 votes, an official said.

Shilpi Neha, the daughter of former legislator Bandhu Tirkey and also supported by the ruling JMM-led coalition, secured a total of 95,062 votes and gave credit to the people of Mandar for her success.

Kujur bagged a total of 71,545 votes, the official said.


AIMIM-backed Independent candidate Dev Kumar Dhan occupied the third slot with 22,395 votes.

Over 61 per cent of 3.5 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the election held on June 23.

The by-poll was necessitated after the disqualification of Bandhu Tirkey as an MLA in the wake of his conviction in a corruption case.