DHAKA: Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has won in the presidential nominating contest in New York on Tuesday, blunting the momentum of rival Brooklyn-born Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and taking a big step toward wrapping up the nomination.

The victory for Clinton in one of the biggest state nominating contests so far set up the front-runner for strong performances next Tuesday, when the former senator for New York is expected to do well in five other Northeastern state primaries, reports CNN.

Meanwhile, Republican front-runner billionaire Donald Trump also has defeated his rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich in the race in New York.

In her victory speech, Hillary Clinton said, “We’ve won in every region of the country, from the north to the south to the east to the west, but this one’s personal!”

She further told her supporters: “Today you proved once again: There’s no place like home.”

Quoting US networks, BBC said the New York billionaire had won in his home state just seconds after the polls closed at 21:00 EDT (01:00 GMT), but the result for the Democrats was not immediately called.

Clinton’s win in New York followed some of the most heated personal exchanges of her campaign against Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont who had won seven of the last eight state-by-state nominating contests.

The New York victory will expand Clinton’s lead of 244 pledged delegates over Sanders, and make it nearly impossible for him to overcome the deficit and capture the 2,383 convention delegates needed for the nomination under Democratic rules that allocate delegates proportionally based on each state’s result.

BDST: 0838 HRS, APR 20, 2016
SR