A turnout of 73.95% was recorded in the by-election to the Bhagwanpur Vidhan Sabha seat in Uttarakhand on Saturday.
The bypoll in Haridwar district was necessitated following the death of Surendra Rakesh, who was Minister of Transport and Social Welfare in the Harish Rawat Cabinet. He was a member of the Progressive Democratic Front that supports the Congress government in Uttarakhand.
In March last year, Rakesh was suspended from the BSP for anti-party activities.
There is tough competition between Congress candidate Mamata Rakesh, wife of Surendra Rakesh, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Rajpal Singh, and (Master) Satyapal Singh, an Independent candidate. The byelection is important to the Congress as a win here will ensure it has a majority of 36 MLAs in the 70-member House.
