Counting begins for Haryana's Jind assembly seat

Chandigarh:Counting of votes began on Thursday for the Jind assembly seat in Haryana.

It started at 8 a.m. and the result was expected by afternoon, poll officials said here.

Voting for the by-election took place on January 28 with nearly 76 per cent of the 1.72 lakh voters exercising their franchise in the multi-cornered contest.

The test was for all four major parties in the fray -- the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the newly launched Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) as both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections were to be held later this year.

The fate of the four main candidates, Randeep Singh Surjewala (Congress), Krishan Lal Middha (BJP), Umed Singh (INLD) and Digvijay Singh Chautala (JJP), will be decided.

The by-election was necessitated after the death of two-time INLD legislator Hari Chand Middha, whose son is in the fray on a BJP ticket.