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National Conference candidate Chowdhary Talib Hussain was leading over his nearest BJP rival Nirmal Singh by 55,000 votes at the end of counting of votes in the Jammu Lok Sabha bye-election, the result of which has been withheld by the Election Commission.
Official sources said the commission was scrutinising the result following complaints of rigging by candidates of major parties, including the BJP and Congress.
While Chowdhary got 2,53,885 votes, Singh got 1,98,277 and the Congress 1,86,048 votes, the sources said.
The BJP, Congress and Peoples Democratic Party have demanded a repoll for the bye-election to the Jammu parliamentary constituency and have called for a bandh on Monday in protest against the alleged large-scale rigging during the entire election process.
The counting of votes was stopped after midnight on Sunday when candidates of these parties and two independents walked out of the counting centres along with their supporters alleging rigging.
Counting of votes was suspended for Poonch, Darhal, Rajouri and Mendhar assembly segments while that for 16 other segments continued.
Counting is expected to resume on Monday.
Nirmal Singh, M L Sharma, PDP's Tasaduk Hussain and independents Tahir Nassen and Jagdish Raj, told reporters separately that they had informed the Election Commission about the 'rigging' and demanded repolling.
Accusing the National Conference of large scale rigging, Singh said, "These kind of policies have worsened the situation in Kashmir and now the NC wants to repeat them in Jammu."
Sharma alleged that some ballot boxes were exchanged while they were being taken to the counting centres.
Hussain accused the EC of not paying heed to the list of polling stations where the PDP had apprehended trouble.
Meanwhile, shops and business establishments in most areas in Jammu remained closed and only minimal traffic was seen on the roads.
Counting for the Rajouri and Darhal assembly segments is expected to be taken up on Monday.
PTI
