Bawana bypoll: Congress candidate Surendra Kumar takes early lead

Congress candidate Surendra Kumar has taken an early lead of around 2,000 votes over his BJP rival in the race to the Bawana Assembly seat.At the end of the 4th round of counting, Kumar had polled 8,996 votes, while BJP candidate Ved Prakash was trailing behind with 6,899 votes, said the Delhi CEO office.

The AAP candidate, Ram Chandra, was placed third with 6,256 votes.

The counting began at 8 am.

The Congress is hoping for a victory in the bypoll to open its account in



the Delhi Assembly. The party had drawn a blank in the 2015 assembly elections.

In the 70-member Delhi Assembly, the AAP has 65 MLAs and the BJP 4.

Kumar is a three-time former MLA from the Bawana seat, which had fallen vacant after Ved Prakash, who represented it, resigned from his assembly membership and quit the AAP to join the BJP in March this year.

The by-poll, which was held on August 23, saw a meagre turnout of 45 per cent.