RANCHI: Congress candidate Shilpi Neha Tirkey has become the youngest MLA in Jharkhand Assembly, by winning the Mandar by-poll. She defeated her nearest rival, BJP candidate Gangotri Kujur, by over 23,500 votes. This is fourth consecutive victory by the ruling alliance in the by-polls in the state.
Tirkey received 95,062 votes while BJP candidate Gangotri Kujur secured 71,545 votes. AIMIM candidate Dev Kumar Dhan was at number three with 22,395 votes.
With this, the number of women Congress MLAs in the Assembly has gone up to five. After the disqualification of former Mandar MLA Bandhu Tirkey from Jharkhand Assembly, Congress fielded his daughter Shilpi Neha Tirkey from the seat. The seat is reserved for tribals. There were a total of 14 candidates in the fray for the Mandar Assembly by-election.