Continuing its winning streak in the Delhi Assembly elections, the Congress on Monday wrested the Rajendra Nagar seat by defeating BJP candidate Asha Yogi, widow of three-time MLA Puran Chand, by over 5,000 votes.

Ramakant Goswami trounced Asha Yogi by 5,406 votes in the re-election that was held on Saturday.

Polling for the constituency was stayed after Puran Chand Yogi was found dead just 13 days before the polling day — on November 29. While the police said Yogi had committed suicide, the family contested the claim. After Yogi’s wife jumped into the fray, there was talk of a possible ‘sympathy wave’ for the deceased, a long-time RSS worker in an area widely held as a BJP stronghold. Puran Chand had represented the Rajendra Nagar seat since 1993.

But the result has only stirred the pot further for the opposition, which is still in the process of fixing reasons for its defeat and the way it went into these polls.

Incidentally, one-time Congressman Trilok Chand Sharma of the Bahujan Samaj Party got a good share of the vote pie, managing 15,781 votes. Sharma had fought the last elections as an Independent and garnered 8,514 votes.

While Goswami, the Congress’s chief whip in the outgoing Assembly, polled 29,394 votes, Asha Yogi bagged 23,988.

The BJP had left no stones unturned in the last two days to try and keep the seat, with several victorious party MLAs camping in Rajendra Nagar.

Vijay Kumar Malhotra and former Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana had also campaigned in the constituency.

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