Raipur: BJP candidate Dinesh Kashyap
on Friday defeated his nearest rival Lakhma Kawasi of Congress by
over 85,000 votes to win the bypoll to Naxal-hit Bastar Lok
Sabha constituency in Chhattisgarh.
Elections officials in Bastar district said that Kashyap defeated Kawasi by over 85,000 votes to win the tribal-dominated constituency spread over four districts.
The BJP has won the seat continuously since 1998.
Dinesh is the son of former Bastar MP Baliram Kashyap,
whose death necessitated the bypoll held on May 8. Lakma is
the sitting Congress legislator from Konta (ST).
Bastar Collector and Election Officer P Anbalagan said
counting of votes began this morning amid tight security at
district headquarters at Jagdalpur, where a total of 16
counting rounds were held.
Eight Assembly segments of four districts - Bastar,
Dantewada, Narayanpur and Bijapur - form the Bastar
Parliamentary constituency.
There were eight candidates in the fray in Bastar, a Maoist bastion.
PTI
First Published: Friday, May 13, 2011, 23:41