New Delhi:The Samajwadi Party (SP) won its crucial prestige battle against the in the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat by-election on Thursday. SP candidate Dimple Yadav bagged the seat with a margin of 2,40,322 votes defeating BJP's Raghuraj Singh Shakya. The Mainpuri parliamentary constituency, which fell vacant after the death of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, registered 54.01 per cent voting.
The by-polls are witnessing a direct contest between the ruling BJP and the opposition Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress are not in the fray.
Following defeats in Azamgarh and the Rampur Lok Sabha bypoll, considered the Samajwadi Party bastions, the Mainpuri parliamentary and Rampur and Khatauli assembly by-elections have become important for the Akhilesh Yadav-led party and his ally RLD.
In Mainpuri, SP president Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav was pitted against BJP's Raghuraj Singh Shakya, once a close associate of Shivpal Singh Yadav. Shakya joined the BJP ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls held earlier this year.
RLD bags Khatauli Assembly seat from BJP
SP ally Rashtriya Lok Dal on Thursday won the Khatauli bypoll in Uttar Pradesh, with its candidate Madan Bhaiya defeating his BJP rival Rajkumari Saini by a margin of over 22,000 votes.
Madan Bhaiya polled 97,071 votes, while Saini received 74,996, according to the Election Commission. Saini is the wife of former BJP MLA Vikram Singh, whose disqualification from the state assembly following his conviction in a 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case necessitated the bypoll.
BJP wins Rampur Sadar assembly seat in UP
he BJP on Thursday won the Rampur Sadar assembly seat for the first time as its candidate Akash Saxena defeated his nearest Samajwadi Party rival Asim Raja by a margin of 33,702 votes in a bypoll.
The bypoll to the Muslim-dominated Rampur Sadar seat, considered an Azam Khan stronghold, was necessitated after the senior SP leader was sentenced to three years in jail in a hate speech case, and subsequently disqualified as MLA and barred from contesting polls for six years.
Asim Raja questioned the fairness of the election process, claiming police "did not allow people to cast their votes in the city and looted booths." "There was only 20 per cent polling on booths in the city. Police had captured booths. Over two lakh voters were not allowed to cast votes. In areas where there was an SP booth (area where the party thought the majority of voters were its supporters) were looted. We have made a complaint to the EC," he alleged.
Congress wins Sardarshahar in Rajasthan
Congress candidate Anil Kumar Sharma has won the Sardarshahar by-election with a big margin of 26,852 votes. A total of 2,89,843 voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in the bypoll necessitated by the demise of Congress MLA Bhanwar Lal Sharma, who passed away on October 9 after prolonged illness.
Polling was held amid tight security arrangements across all 295 booths in the assembly segment. The Congress fielded Sharma's son Anil Kumar while former MLA Ashok Kumar is the BJP candidate. Eight other candidates are in the fray.
BJD retains Padampur seat
The BJD registered an emphatic victory in Odisha's Padampur by-poll with its candidate Barsha Singh Bariha defeating her nearest rival against BJP's Pradip Purohit by 42,679 votes. The victory comes after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who has refrained from physically campaigning in bypoll since 2019 and went to campaign for his party candidate in the tribal-dominated constituency.
An overwhelmed Barsha thanked Patnaik, who is also the BJD president, for campaigning for her, asserting that it proved to be a "game changer". "Thanks to our CM and the people of Padampur. My late father's goodwill was also a factor that worked in favor of the BJD in the by-poll," the 29-year-old law graduate said.
After the end of the 23rd round of counting, Bariha polled a total of 1,20,807 votes, while Purohit secured 78,128 votes, the Election Commission said. Congress candidate Satya Bhusan Sahu got 3,594 votes. The bypoll was necessitated by the death of late BJD MLA Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha in October.
Congress retains Bhanupratappur seat
Congress scored a hattrick in the tribal-reserved Bhanupratappur seat by recording a third straight victory in the Assembly constituency. Congress candidate Savitri Mandavi won the bypoll by a margin of 21,171 votes against her nearest rival Brahmanand Netam of the BJP.
While Mandavi polled 65,479 votes, the BJP's Netam got 44,308 votes. Independent candidate former IPS officer Akbar Ram Korram polled 23,417 votes. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said the people of Bhanupratappur put their stamp of approval to the works done by his government in the last four years.
BJP wins Kurhani in Bihar
The BJP wrested the Kurhani assembly seat from Bihar's ruling Mahagathbandhan as its candidate Kedar Prasad Gupta defeated Manoj Singh Kushwaha of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) by 3,645 votes. In the cliffhanger of a contest, Gupta polled 76,653 votes while Kushwaha finished with 73,008 votes.
The by-election was necessitated by the disqualification of RJD MLA Anil Kumar Sahani. The opposition BJP and the ruling JD(U) in Bihar were fighting neck and neck with the latter gaining a lead of 1,802 votes after the ninth round of counting in the bypoll for by-election to the Kurhani assembly constituency in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar. The JD(U)'s Manoj Singh Kushwaha bagged 34,000 votes, while his nearest rival, Kedar Gupta of the BJP, got 32,198 votes.
Altogether 13 candidates, five of them Independents, were in the fray though the contest is being seen, primarily, as between Gupta and Kushwaha. Both are former MLAs. The by-poll was necessitated by the disqualification of sitting RJD MLA Anil Kumar Sahani.
Gupta had lost to Sahani by less than 700 votes in the 2020 assembly polls which BJP and JD(U) had fought in alliance. Now, the JD(U) is a part of Mahagathbandhan comprising RJD, Congress and the Left parties.
Nearly 58 per cent of voters exercised their franchise on Monday in the by-poll to Kurhani where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) and the BJP have locked horns for the first time since their break-up four months ago. (with Agency inputs)
