Congress retains Kharba seat in Bengal

Malda, Apr 16 (UNI) The Congress retained the Kharba Assembly seat in Malda district defeating the CPI(M) by more than 10,000 votes.

Congress candidate Asif Mahboob polled 67,067 votes while CPI(M) nominee Anjuara Begam got 56,674 votes.

BJP's Sital Chakraborty finished a distant third securing 6985, while All India Trinamool Congress's Abdul Khalek bagged 4547 votes to secure the fourth position. Both of them forfeited their deposits.

The byelection, held on April 12, was necessitated following the death of Congress MLA Mahbul Haq, father of Asif Mahboob.

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