Sujanpur bypoll: Ranjit wins battle of Ranas

Dinesh Kanwar

Hamirpur, June 4

BJP candidate and three-time MLA Rajinder Rana lost the Sujanpur Assembly byelection to Ranjit Singh Rana of the Congress by a margin of 2,440 votes. Ranjit Rana secured 29,529 votes — 50.95% of the total 57,961 votes polled, while Rajinder Rana got 27,089 votes (46.74%).

In the 2022 Assembly election, Ranjider Rana, who then was the Congress candidate, had defeated Ranjit Singh, then the BJP candidate, by a margin of 399 votes.

Rajinder Rana had won his first election in 2012 as Independent, while he tasted success in 2017 and 2022 as the Congress candidate. This time, he contested on BJP ticket after being expelled from the Vidhan Sabha, along with five other MLAs.

Ranjit said he was thankful to people of the constituency for electing him to the Assembly.

He also expressed his gratitude to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Congress leadership at the state and national-level for giving him a chance to contest the byelection. He added that rigorous campaigning by the CM in the constituency was the key behind his success. Ranjit Singh said he would try his best to work for the development of the constituency.

Rajinder Rana said he accepted the mandate of people of the constituency, who had earlier elected him three times. He added that he would continue to serve the people of the constituency as he was doing for the past 20 years.