She beat Congress candidate Vandana by a mere 159 votes. What caused much heartburn in Vandana was that she led Vasantha Kumari in the first two rounds of counting and was sitting pretty confidently with her supporters to hear the final result. But the BJP woman overtook her in the final round, literally pipping her at the post.
The run-up to the final tally played out as follows: Results after first round: Vasantha: 1459, Vandana: 1881; Second round: Vasantha: 1652, Vandana 2134; Third and final round:Vasantha: 2597, Vandana: 1534.
Refusing to accept the loss, Vandana and her supporters created a ruckus and demanded that a recounting be done.
Police personnel, including an Assistant Commissioner of Police, rushed to the booth to bring the situation under control. Returning Officer, L Nagaraj, turned down the demand and asked Vandana to file a petition in court for the same later.
After tension prevailed for half-an hour, Vasantha was declared elected in the ward and handed over her certificate at 11 am.
A relieved and jubilant Vasantha rushed out with her supporters in tow beaming
DH News Service
Published 05 April 2010, 19:42 IST