Cong scores, retains Yaiskul, Suraj pledges to carry on father's legacy
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 23 2009: Indian National Congress candidate Elangbam Suraj has won the by-election to the Yaiskul Assembly Constituency by defeating his nearest rival Independent candidate Hanjabam Jayadeva Sharma by a margin of 943 votes.

The result of the by-election which was held on December 19 was declared today.

The by-election was necessitated following the death of its sitting MLA and father of Suraj, Elangbam Kunjeshore.

Talking to mediapersons after the result was declared, Suraj observed that he can say nothing much about the Khwairamband Bazar but his top priorities would be development of roads and drainages in his Constituency.

Counting of the votes in the Mini Secretariat, Porompat, Imphal East district began since 8 am and was completed by afternoon today.

In all, Suraj secured 9799 votes while his nearest rival Hanjabam Jayadeva garnered 8856 .

Two other candidates in the by election namely, Soubam Rajendrakumar of JD (S) secured 834 votes and Aribam Jagdish Sharma, another Independent candidate, got only 129 votes.

Out of the total 23,497 voters in the Constituency, 19,616 of them exercised their franchise rights in the by-election in 28 polling stations.

Out of these 28 polling stations, Suraj led in 17 polling stations while his nearest rival Hanjabam Jayadeva in 11 polling stations.

The remaining two candidates did not lead in any polling stations.

With a total of 515 votes, Suraj secured the highest number of votes in the polling station 14/7-Ningthem Pukhri Mapal Balwadi School.

In the said polling stations, Jayadeva secured 263 votes.

Jayadeva secured the highest number of votes from polling station 14/19 Brahmapur Balika LP School with a total of 497 votes while Suraj trailed behind closely with 400 votes.

In polling station 14/3 SEACO Club, Suraj got 409 votes as against 153 votes in favour of Jayadeva.

With a wide difference of 256 votes, this is the polling station where Suraj led over Jayadeva in term of highest vote margin.

In polling station 14/9 Imphal Public Club (East Wing), Jayadeva led over Suraj by a margin of 246 votes.

Jayadeva secured a total of 441 votes as against 195 votes in favour of Suraj.

Suraj stands next to a picture of his late father

For JD (S) candidate Soubam Rajendrakumar, polling station 14/1 Shyamasakhi Girls' High School is the only polling station where he got the highest number of votes at 62 .

For the Independent candidate Aribam Jagdish, polling station 14/4 Moirangkhom Junior High School recorded his highest votes in any single polling station at 14 .

Both Soubam Rajendrakumar and Aribam Jagdish lost their deposits in the by-election.

After completion of the counting, Returning Officer of 14 Yaiskul A/C Robita declared Indian National Congress candidate Elangbam Suraj as elected in the by-election and accordingly, handed over the certificate to him at the Mini Secretariat.

While coming to receive the certificate from the Returning Officer, Suraj was accompanied by MLAs Lokeshwore, Kh Ratan and E Dwijamani.

Talking to mediapersons while coming out, Suraj said that as a newly elected Congress MLA he have not thought about what he would do in connection with the Khwairamband Bazar incident, but as an MLA of his Constituency, his priority would be development of the roads and drainage system.

Giving the credit of his success to Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh, other Ministers and MLAs, Suraj said that he had expected to get more number of votes than the margin difference of just 943 from his nearest rival.

On the other hand, Independent candidate Hanjabam Jayadeva Sharma observed that for him defeat at the hand of a candidate of the ruling party by a margin of just 943 votes is nothing but a moral victory.

He said that since he has faith of the people, he would continue to work for their welfare and whether he would contest in the next election or not would depend on the wishes of the people.