Opposition Congress today retained the Mungaoli Assembly seat in a by-poll in Madhya Pradesh, with its candidate Brajendra Singh Yadav beating his BJP rival by a margin of 2,124 votes, a poll official said.
Brajendra Singh Yadav got 70,808 votes while the BJP candidate, Baisahab Yadav, bagged 68,684, the official said.
Counting of votes began in the morning with the BJP leading in the first round. However, the Congress candidate surged ahead from the second round onwards and maintained the lead till the seventh round.
Baisahab Yadav again caught up and left his opponent behind between the 12 to 15th rounds.
In the last round, the Congress managed to gain a lead again, retaining the seat.
Notably, the Congress had won the seat by a margin of 20,765 votes in the previous election.
The bypoll, held on February 24, was necessitated due to the death of Congress's MLA Mahendra Singh Kalukheda.
Published 28 February 2018, 13:52 IST