Jaipur(PTI): Congress candidate Pramod Jain Bhaya won the Anta assembly bypoll in Rajasthan's Baran district with 69,571 votes, defeating his nearest rival and BJP nominee Morpal Suman by a margin of 15,612 votes, according to the Election Commission.

Suman got 53,959 votes, beating Independent candidate and Congress rebel Naresh Meena, who was initially in second place, by 159 votes in a tantalisingly close contest.

Bhaya maintained his lead throughout.

A total of 15 candidates were in the fray.

The bypoll was necessitated after BJP MLA Kanwar Lal Meena was disqualified following his conviction in a criminal case. Kanwar Lal Meena defeated Bhaya, the then minister in the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government, in the 2023 assembly polls.

Bhaya attributed his bypoll victory to a shift i

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