RANCHI: Congress posted a convincing win over Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the byelections to the Kolebira assembly seat in Simdega district of Jharkhand , results of which were announced on Sunday.Congress candidate Naman Bixal Kongari defeated BJP’s Basant Soreng by 9,658 votes to clinch the seat after 20 rounds of counting. “Kongari secured 40, 343 votes while Soreng received 30,685 votes,” Simdega deputy commissioner Jata Shankar Chaudhary told the TOI.While Congress gained lead in since the counting began at 7 am, Jharkhand Party candidate Menon Ekka, touted to the likely winner, gradually fell behind. Menon, the wife of disqualified MLA Enos Ekka who supported the BJP ruled NDA alliance in Jharkhand Assembly from the outside, got 16, 445 votes. NOTA got 3,694 votes. Menon was backed by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), a Congress ally in the UPA fold.Sunday’s results came as the third consecutive defeat for the BJP in byelections in Jharkhand. BJP had finished second in Silli and Gomia seats behind JMM in June this year. In Ranchi, state Congress spokesperson Kishore Shahdeo hailed the win as historic. "We were confident of winning because of our strong preparations at booth levels," Shahdeo said.