The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retained the mayoral seat in Ghaziabad in a bypoll held on Sunday. BJP candidate Ashu Verma defeated his nearest rival Sudan Rawat, a Samajwadi Party candidate, by 45,228 votes.
There were 12 candidates in the fray but the main contest was between the BJP and the SP. The BJP took the lead from the first round, which continued till the end of the 20th round. Congress candidate lalman Singh Pal came third.
Earlier, the mayoral seat fell vacant after the city mayor Teluram Kamboj died on August 8, 2015. During last six months, the municipal corporation was running without its legislature head due to which, some important decisions were pending.
The local councillor Rajendra Tyagi filed a writ petition in Allahabad High Court for the mayoral election. After the High Court ordered to conduct the election, the elections were held on Sunday.