India: Congress wins Chitrakot assembly bypoll in Chhattisgarh

Jagdalpur, Oct 24 (PTI) The ruling Congress won the Chitrakot Assembly bypoll in Chhattisgarh on Thursday, poll officials said.

Congress' Rajman Benzam won the bypoll from the naxal-affected constituency, reserved for Scheduled Tribes, by a margin of 17,862 votes against Lachhuram Kashyap of the BJP.

Benzam polled 62,097 votes while Kashyap secured 44,235 votes.

Voting for the bypoll was held on October 21. The voter turnout was 78.12 per cent.

The bypoll to Chitrakot was necessitated after Congress MLA Deepak Baij got elected to the Lok Sabha from Bastar.

Last month the BJP had lost Dantewada assembly bypoll to the Congress. It took the saffron party's strength in the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly to 14, while the ruling Congress' numbers went up to 69.