Jammu, Oct 08 (KNO): Former minister and Congress leader Choudhary Lal Singh suffered a defeat, losing by over 16,000 votes in the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly elections declared today.
According to the results declared by the Election Commission, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Darshan Kumar received 31,874 votes, while Lal Singh garnered only 15,840 votes, resulting in a loss margin of 16,034.
The results, accessed by the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), reveal that in Kishtwar, BJP candidate Sunil Sharma secured victory from the Padder-Nagseni segments, winning by a narrow margin of 1,445 votes against National Conference's Pooja Thakur. Sharma, who trailed until the sixth round of the eight-round election, received 16,543 votes compared to Thakur's 15,098.
Former minister Surjeet Singh Salathia from Samba constituency achieved a comfortable win, collecting 42,206 votes against Independent candidate Ravinder Singh, who managed only 12,725 votes.
In Suchetgarh, BJP's Gharu Ram won decisively with a margin of 11,026 votes, amassing 38,867 votes to defeat Congress's Bhushan Lal Dogra, who received 27,841 votes.
Arvind Gupta of the BJP also emerged victorious in Jammu West, defeating Congress's Manmohan Singh by a margin of 21,968 votes. Gupta secured 41,725 votes, while Singh received 19,757.
Former minister and BJP candidate Dr Devinder Kumar Manyal won from Ramgarh, securing 35,171 votes and defeating Congress's Yashpal Kunada, who received 21,136 votes, with a margin of 14,035—(KNO)