HP: BJP's Chaitanya Sharma loses Gagret assembly bypoll by over 8,000 votes

Shimla, Jun 4 (PTI) BJP candidate Chaitanya Sharma lost the Gagret assembly bypoll in Himachal Pradesh to his Congress rival Rakesh Kalia by over 8,000 votes on Tuesday.

According to the Election Commission website, Kalia polled 35,768 votes against Sharma's 27,281.

Kalia, a BJP rebel, had entered the fray on a Congress ticket from Gagret after the BJP named Chaitanya as its candidate for the seat.

Chaitanya was among the six Congress rebels who voted for BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha polls and were later disqualified from the Assembly for defying a party whip by not remaining present in the House during voting on cut motions and passing of Budget.

All the six rebels had joined the BJP and were fielded from their respective seats for the bypolls.

There was a total of 85,959 electorates in the constituency and the voter turnout was 75.14 per cent. PTI BPL IJT IJT