Congress hope for boxer boost fails, Vijender Singh loses deposit

Congress’ Vijender Singh after the result. (Source: ANI)

The Congress’s attempt at garnering votes through star power, by fielding boxer Vijender Singh from the South Delhi constituency, yielded no returns, as he lost his deposit, securing 13.56% of the total votes.

Singh came third on the seat, which incumbent BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri won with a huge margin of over 3.7 lakh votes. Singh, who got 1.64 lakh votes, trailed behind AAP’s Raghav Chadha, who got 3.19 lakh votes. In 2014, Bidhuri secured 45.15% of the total votes polled. Singh did not respond to calls seeking a comment by The Indian Express.

Flashing a victory sign, Bidhuri said: “The trends are in my favour and will continue to be so. Who will accept people who say ‘Bharat tere tukde honge?’”

Chadha tweeted: “We respect the people’s mandate with all humility. Lost we may have, but there is honour and joy in fighting for what one believes to be right.”