Kichha, Sirauli Kalan civic polls: Congress wins both chairs; Rajesh Pratap Singh wins by 6,147 votes, Rashida Begum by 1,773

Congress has won the chairperson post in both the Kichha and Sirauli Kalan municipal elections. Counting began at 8 am on Wednesday, October 7, on the Supreme Court's order, and results came by evening. In Kichha, Congress's Rajesh Pratap Singh got 19,091 votes and BJP's Sandeep Arora 12,944; he won by 6,147 votes (news agency Bhasha put the margin at 6,077). BJP, Congress and independent candidates all won wards in Kichha. In Sirauli Kalan, a municipality formed for the first time, Congress's Rashida Begum got 5,434 votes and defeated independent Farheen Jahan (3,661 votes) by 1,773; Congress also won all four wards there. Both towns voted on September 22, but counting was put off after a commotion at the strong room and the matter reached the Supreme Court. The Kichha contest was seen as a prestige battle between Congress MLA Tilak Raj Behad and former BJP MLA Rajesh Shukla. (Source: Amar Ujala, ETV Bharat, Hindustan)