Kanpur: The BJP retained the Sikandra Assembly seat of bandit Phoolan Devi fame in a bypoll on Sunday by a margin of over 11,000 votes.
According to the Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer's office, BJP's Ajit Singh Pal secured 73,284 votes (44.86 per cent), while his nearest rival, Seema Sachan of the Samajwadi Party (SP), bagged 61,423 votes (37.60 per cent).
The victory margin of the BJP candidate was 11,861 votes.
Prabhakar Pandey of the Congress secured 19,084 votes.
While the SP and Congress had contested the state Assembly polls, held earlier this year, in an alliance, the two parties had decided to go alone in the bypoll. The scene turned ugly during the counting of votes on Sunday after the SP and Congress candidates and their agents claimed that the seals of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) were broken. They alleged that the authorities had deliberately tampered with the machines to ensure the BJP nominee's win. Superintendent of Police (SP) Ratan Kant Pandey, however, denied that there was any disturbance during the counting of votes.
"The SP and Congress candidates twice attempted to create a nuisance, claiming that the seals of the EVMs were broken.