Following a tiff between the BJP and Congress supporters outside the counting centre, police stopped the entry of the media persons in the centre. The heated argument between the supporters of the rival parties followed the BJP demand for recounting of votes polled for ward 11. The BJP workers said that the early lead for the Congress in areas deemed to be the saffron strongholds was unbelievable.
Till 2.30 pm, the Congress was leading in areas where BJP is supposed to be strong. The Congress supporters, however, rubbished the BJP demand for recounting. “The saffron party activists are on edge following the lead taken by the Congress candidate Anita Sharma over BJP’s Anu Kakkar in the mayoral election of Haridwar municipal corporation. The lead of the Congress candidate in ward no 11 has made further deepened their frustration,” said a Congress supporter. In ward number 11, the Congress candidate Rajeev Bhargav won. BJP’s Shriti Khewadia won from the ward 7 while Congress’s Manju Garg won from the ward number 8. Besides, Congress’s Ram Kishan won from ward number 9 and BJP’s Vineet Jolly won from the ward number 10. The counting was going on at the time of filing the report. The state election commission officers said that the final announcement of the results might be made around midnight.
