Biden wins South Carolina primary

Washington DC: Former US vice president Joe Biden won the South Carolina primary on Saturday, giving a big boost to his presidential campaign.

Biden, 77, scored more than 50 per cent of the total votes counted in the crucial state of South Carolina, where the primaries for the Democratic party's presidential race were held on Saturday. Senator Bernie Sanders, 78, was a distant second with 17 per cent of the votes counted.

On the Republican side, President Donald Trump, who is seeking re-election, decisively won the GOP primary.

The first primary win in the 2020 presidential race gave Biden the much-needed boost to his White House ambition. He had lost the previous primaries and caucuses in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

The last two were won by Sanders and Iowa was a tie between Sanders and Pete Buttigieg.

Now all eyes are on "Super Tuesday" or March 3 when presidential primaries would be held in as many as 15 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.