Congress loses Haryana prestige battle, Rahul's man Randeep Singh Surjewala routed in Jind bypoll as BJP's Krishan Lal Middha wins big

Ruling BJP candidate Krishan Middha won the Jind bypolls which is seen as a prestige battle for the party and Congress. Congress' Randeep Surjewala was routed and came in third in the polls.

Middha won a total of 50566 votes with a margin of 12935 votes. JJP's Digvijay Singh Chautala garners 37631 votes and Congress' RS Surjwala gets 22740 votes.

Krishan Middha is the son of late Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLA Hari Chand Middha.

The high-stake election is considered a referendum on the Manohar Lal Khattar government and also a semi-final ahead of Lok Sabha elections.

The constituency witnessed a multi-cornered contest with prestige at stake for key political outfits, including the ruling BJP and the opposition INLD, Congress and the fledgeling JJP, formed by Lok Sabha MP Dushyant Chautala after split in INLD.

Jind Result Final:

INLD - 3454 votes
BJP   -50566 votes
Cong -22740 votes
LSP   -13582 votes
JJP   -37631 votes

READ | LIVE Updates: Results For Jind And Ramgarh Bypolls To Be Declared Today

The bypoll was necessitated following the death of Indian National Lok Dal legislator Hari Chand Middha in August last year.

As many as 1,71,113 people, including nearly 80,000 women, were eligible to vote, officials said, adding 158 polling stations had been set up, of which 67 are in rural areas.

Twenty-one candidates including two women have entered the fray.

READ | SCOOP: Here's why Congress is fielding Randeep Surjewala for the Jind assembly by-poll despite him being a sitting Haryana MLA

Digvijay Singh Chautala and Vinod Arshi, respective candidates from two newly formed political outfits Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and Loktantra Suraksha Party (LSP) of BJP's rebel MP Raj Kumar Saini contested, and INLD's Umed Singh Redhu also contested in the polls.

Notably, Randeep Surjewala, Redhu and Umed Singh Digvijay Singh Chautala are all Jats while Middha belongs to the Punjabi community.

As many as 48,000 voters out of the total 1,71,113 eligible to vote belong to the Jat community while the remaining belong to Brahmin, Punjabi and other communities.

Arshi, a Brahmin leader from Jind, was speculated to play spoilsport in the multi-cornered contest, but his contest did not affect the results of polls.

(With agency inputs)