Cong's Zubair wins Ramgarh poll in Rajasthan, defeats BJP rival by over 12,000 votes

The ruling Congress in Rajasthan Thursday touched the halfway mark in the 200-member state assembly with its candidate Shafia Zubair defeating her BJP rival by a margin of over 12,000 votes in the Ramgarh poll.

Zubair secured 44.77 per cent votes against BJP candidate Sukhwant Singh's 38.20 per cent, according to officials of the state election department.

With the results of the Ramgarh assembly poll, Congress now has 100 MLAs in the House and its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) has one MLA. The BJP has 73 members in the Rajasthan assembly.

The Congress candidate won the seat by defeating her nearest rival of the BJP with a margin of 12,228 votes, department officials said.

A total of 20 candidates contested the January 28 election. The remaining 18 candidates, including Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Jagat Singh- got their security forfeited.

Jagat Singh is the son of former union minister Natwar Singh.

The number of None Of The Above (NOTA) votes polled was 241, including one from ballot.

Rajasthan Congress president and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot said, This is a vote of confidence yet again by the people of Rajasthan towards the Congress party."