Jaipur: Surendra Pal Singh TT, who was made a minister in Rajasthan even before being elected as an MLA, on Monday lost the Assembly election to Congress rival, Rupinder Singh Kunnar by 11,283 votes from the Karanpur seat.
The BJP candidate was the Minister of State (Independent Charge) in Bhajan Lal’s cabinet.
This is the first time in Rajasthan that a leader who became a minister before becoming an MLA has lost the election. The Assembly elections were held in November, but the election on Karanpur seat was postponed due to the death of the Congress candidate and the then MLA Gurmeet Singh Kunnar . The Congress then gave the ticket to his son, Rupinder Singh Kunnar.
Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Congress State President Govind Singh Dotasara, while congratulating Rupinder Singh Kunnar on the victory, said that this mandate was a “slap on the dictatorship of BJP”.
At the same time, BJP state president C.P. Joshi said that he will review the reasons for the defeat. Kunnar got 94,761 votes and TT got 83,500 votes.
Counting was done on Monday at Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Government PG College. Voting on this seat was held on January 5. Even before winning the elections, this seat was in the news due to the appointment of BJP candidate Surendra Pal Singh TT as a minister in the new government.
The eyes of the entire state were fixed on this election result. Counting of votes was completed in 18 rounds. TT was ahead in the first two rounds, but started falling behind from the third round onwards.