Rajasthan bypolls: Cong retains one seat, BJP wrests Todabheem

Congress retained Salumber (ST) assembly seat while BJP wrested Todabheem (ST) constituency from an Independent in the bypolls to the two seats in Rajasthan, results of which were declared today.

In Salumber, Congress candidate Basanti Devi defeated BJP's Amritlal Meena by 3,098 votes.

In Todabheem, a seat held by an Independent, BJP candidate Ramesh Meena defeated his nearest Congress rival Shiv Dayal by 8,277 votes.

The bypoll in Todabheem was necessitated as the seat fell vacant when Kirorilal Meena got elected to the Lok Sabha as an Independent. Similarly, Salumber seat fell vacant when sitting Congress MLA Raghuveer Meena entered Parliament.

Todabheem in Kaurali district is dominated by Kirorilal and his wife Golma Devi, who is state minister in the Gehlot government.

Meanwhile, state BJP president Arun Chaturvedi said the results were a warning for  the Gehlot government and exuded confidence that BJP would gain in the civic body polls slated for November 23 and Panchayati Raj polls by January 2010.

A Congress spokesman said there was no loss to the party and it would assessed why the party lost in the Todabheem seat.