Cong wins crucial Ramgarh seat in Rajasthan

The Congress party on Thursday won the Ramgarh assembly seat in Alwar district of Rajasthan, the election for which was held on January 28.

With this win, Congress's tally touched 100 in the 200-member House.

Congress candidate Shafia Zubair Khan defeated her nearest rival Sukhwant Singh of BJP, with a margin of 12,228 votes. Khan garnered 83,311 votes, while Singh received 71,083 votes. Bahujan Samaj Party's Jagat Singh, son of former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh, trailed at third position with 24,856 votes.

The election was deferred after the death of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Laxman Singh days before the state assembly polls on December 7, 2018.

Rajasthan Congress president and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot told DH, “This is a vote of confidence yet again by the people of Rajasthan for the Congress party. In upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha polls also, Congress will mark a victory." Pilot said after Congress formed government in Rajasthan, this is the first election and is indicative that BJP has lost its support base in the state.

Shafia is the wife of Zubair Khan, who won twice from the seat on a Congress ticket. In 2013, Bharatiya Janata Party's Gyan Dev Ahuja won the seat. Ahuja had won thrice from Ramgarh. But this time both parties had fielded different candidates. Zubair was denied a ticket after he lost twice consecutively in 2008 and 2013. Gyan Dev Ahuja, known for his controversial remarks, was denied a ticket apparently by former chief minister Vasundhara Raje.

On winning the seat Shafia told DH, "I'm happy that people have shown trust in us. Voters here know that we believe in working."

Infamous cow vigilantism

Ramgarh seat was crucial, especially after it came into limelight in July last year following the alleged lynching of dairy farmer Akbar Khan by a mob of villagers near Lalawandi. Ramgarh in Alwar district (Mewat area) is infamous for cow vigilantism. Categorised as a rural seat, Ramgarh comprises 38% Muslims, 16.4% Scheduled Castes and 3.2% Scheduled Tribe voters.

Out of 11 seats in Alwar, Congress has won five seats. The BJP and BSP won two seats each, and two went to independents.

Out of 200 assembly seats, Congress now has 100 MLAs, RLD 1, BJP 73, BSP 6, RLTP 3, CPI (M) and BTP 2 each. The total strength of Independent MLAs is 13.