Congress candidate Mamta Rakesh, widow of the former State Transport Minister Surendra Rakesh, has won the Bhagwanpur Assembly seat (Scheduled Caste) by a margin of 36,909 votes. Her nearest rival was BJP’s Rajpal Singh. Immediately after the result was announced, triumphant Mamta claimed a berth in the State Cabinet. Counting started at 7 am on Wednesday morning at the Collectorate premises at Roshnabad amidst tight security. All the major entries to the premises were barricaded by the jawans from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). Besides, 300 jawans of district police, PAC, Home Guard and Traffic Police were deployed.
From the third round of counting, Mamta Rakesh took lead and the trend continued till the final eleventh round.As per the official records, out of 82,842 votes, Mamta got 59205 votes while Rajpal Singh of BJP received 22,296 votes. Rajpal Singh alleged that the ruling party had misused the Government machinery to ensure its candidate’s victory.
With Mamta stepping her demand for a Cabinet berth for herself, factionalism in the party’s district unit is likely to intensify in the coming days. As the result was announced, the Congress foot soldiers divided in two groups-one shouting slogans for Subodh Rakesh, the deceased minister’s brother and the other for Mamta Rakesh.