Patna, July 13 : Independent candidate Shankar Singh is leading by 1,763 votes against JD(U) candidate Kaladhar Mandal after eight rounds of counting for the Rupauli Assembly bypoll on Saturday.

Shankar Singh has received 44,027 votes, while Kaladhar Mandal, who was leading until the sixth round, has obtained 42,264 votes.

RJD candidate Bima Bharti is in third place with 22,696 votes, trailing by a significant margin of 21,331 votes. NOTA has obtained 3,872 votes, placing it at fourth position.

A total of 11 candidates are in the fray, but the remaining eight candidates have yet to achieve a four-figure number after eight rounds of counting.

According to the Election Commission, 12 rounds of counting will take place in this election.

A total of 28 tables have been set up for the counting of votes. The polling was held in Rupauli on July 10.

According to the Election Commission, 52.75 per cent of the voters exercised their franchise which was much lower compared to the 2020 Assembly elections when 61.19 per cent voting was recorded.

The Rupauli assembly seat fell vacant after Bima Bharti, then a JD (U) MLA, resigned to contest the Lok Sabha elections on the ticket of RJD. Bima Bharti lost that election of the Lok Sabha.

The district administration has deployed adequate security forces in and outside of the college campus for the counting.

/IANS