Ex-BJP minister loses in Jammu by 11 votes

Former BJP minister Sham Lal Choudhary lost by a razor-thin margin of 11 votes in the Suchetgarh constituency of Jammu district in the maiden DDC elections, officials said on Wednesday.

In Jammu, the BJP won 11 seats, followed by independent candidates who got two seats, while one seat went into the kitty of the National Conference (NC).According to the figures provided by the state election authority (SEA), Sham Lal Choudhary polled 12,958 votes against independent candidate Taranjit Singh, who polled 12,969 votes in the Suchetgarh segment of Jammu district.

Choudhary was a Cabinet Minister in the BJP-PDP coalition government in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.