Chandigarh:
In a boost to the ruling Congress after the drubbing in Hisar Lok Sabha seat, the party today broke a three-decade jinx winning the Ratia (SC) Assembly constituency in Fatehabad district and managed to get a razor-thin majority on its own in the Haryana Assembly.
In the other by-election, Haryana Janhit Congress led by Kuldeep Bishnoi, who last month won the Hisar Lok Sabha seat, retained Adampur seat in the bypoll. With today's win in Ratia, Congress led by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has got a simple majority taking its tally to 46 members in the 90-member House.
The Congress had won 40 seats on its own after the October 2009 Assembly polls and later on five MLAs of the HJC had joined the party taking its tally to 45 then. The party also enjoys support of independents besides lone BSP member in the House.
The break-up of the party position now is Congress (46), INLD (30), BJP (4), HJC (1), BSP (1), Shiromani Akali Dal (1) and Independents (7).
Jarnail Singh of Congress defeated Sarfi Devi of main opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) led by former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, which lost its traditional stronghold Ratia which had fallen vacant due to death of Devi's husband and INLD MLA, Gian Chand.
Singh, who was an INLD MLA in 2000 before switching over to the Congress, polled 65,071 votes as against 52,368 polled by Sarfi Devi of INLD. Singh won the seat, which has sizeable presence of the Punjabi community, by a margin of 12,703 votes. Mahavir Prashad of the BJP ended at third position getting 18,142 votes.
BJP and HJC had recently weaved an alliance, but for the saffron party the bypolls did not bring much cheer.
From Adampur too, INLD finished a poor third and Congress, which had been pushed to number three position in Hisar poll, made significant gains despite finishing at number two position in the assembly bypolls.
Renuka Bishnoi, wife of HJC President and Hisar MP, Kuldeep Bishnoi, won Adampur seat with a margin of 22,669 votes defeating her nearest rival and former MLA Kulbir Singh Beniwal of Congress.