In a big boost for the ruling BJP in Haryana, its candidate Krishan Lal Middha defeated his nearest rival Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) candidate Digvijay Singh Chautala by 12,935 votes in the Jind Assembly seat by-election on Thursday.

Middha was declared a winner after several rounds of counting of votes.

Middha garnered a total of 50566 votes, while JJP's Digvijay Singh Chautala secured 37631 votes and Congress' RS Surjwala got 22740 votes.

''I would like to thank everyone who supported the party&me. It's their victory. There were big leaders in the contest as well, but we have defeated them too. We will follow the schemes launched by PM and take them forward,'' Middha said after being officially declared the winner in the crucial Jind byelection.

Congress national spokesman Randeep Surjewala, who was fielded as a strong candidate despite being a sitting legislator, trailed at the third position with less than 10,000 votes after six rounds.

''I hope Manohar Lal Khattar and Krishna Middha ji will fulfil the dreams of the people of Jind. I was given a responsibility by the party which I fulfilled to the best of my abilities, I congratulate Krishna Middha ji,'' Surjewala said.

The Loktantar Suraksha Party (LSP), launched by rebel BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini, made an impressive beginning as it got over 7,700 votes to be in the fourth position. Its candidate is Vinod Ashri.

Meanwhile, clashes were reported in Jind after the bypoll results were officially declared by the election officials.

The Haryana Police and paramilitary forces used canes to disperse protesters during a demonstration in Jind town during the counting of votes for the Jind Assembly seat by-election.

Protesters belonging to the newly launched Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) held the protests while alleging that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) had been tampered with.

As per reports, the serial numbers of two EVMs did not match with the list and this was objected to by one of the contesting candidates inside the counting centre.

As the news reached the activists of various parties, the protest started in Jind town, around 190 km from here, following which the police was forced to take action to disperse them.

Police officials said the protests took place around 300 metres from the counting centre and did not affect the counting process.

The counting process was stopped for some time after the complaint regarding the EVMs but it was resumed later.