Mamma pulls it off in Madhya

BHOPAL: Going was tough for Surendranath Singh right from the word go. Trailing by almost 18,000 votes in the morning, Singh, popularly known as Mamma, was not in his element. Deciding to stay away from counting centre, Mamma was in constant touch with his supporters on mobile, who kept him posted on increasing margin of Arif Masood, the Congress candidate.
For few hours, a tense Mamma continued to get unfavorable reports from EVMs of Old Bhopal area. At Samta Chowk in New Market, where Mamma holds his daily darbar, the unease was palpable.
"How can he lose, RSS worked overtime in the last one week to ensure his victory," said a trader at the Chowk and supporter of Mamma, chairman, Bhopal Development Authority.
Masood, who had head start from the second round, maintained lead up to 11 rounds. Come 12th round, the lead margin began to get narrow for Masood and for the first time in the day, Mamma smelled victory.
Finally, Singh arrived at the counting centre in the evening amid the announcement of results. Singh secured 70,696 votes against Masood, who polled 63,715 votes. Mamma won with a margin of 6,981.
After that Masood, who was seen around the counting centre, disappeared as his supporters kept briefing him every minute.