New Delhi: The mood in the INDIA bloc was upbeat on Saturday after the opposition grouping stunned the BJP by winning 10 out of 13 assembly by-polls across seven states. In contrast, the BJP won 2 seats while one seat went to an Independent.
Though the by-polls are not considered to be indicators of public mood, the victories came on the back of recent Lok Sabha elections in which the INDIA bloc came close to forming a government by winning 232 out of 543 seats and was able to reduce the BJP to 240 seats though the NDA still had the required numbers.
The Lok Sabha win has given a lot of confidence to the opposition bloc which has been taking on the NDA with renewed aggression.
The Congress won two seats Dehra and Nalagarh in party ruled Himachal Pradesh and two seats Badrinath and Manglaur in BJP ruled Uttarakhand. The TMC won four seats Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, Maniktala and Bagda in the party ruled West Bengal. The AAP won the Jalandhar West seat in Punjab. The DMK won the Vikravandi seat in Tamil Nadu. An Independent won the Rupauli seat in Bihar.
The Congress, TMC, AAP and DMK are all part of the INDIA bloc.
In contrast, the BJP won one seat Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh and another seat Amarwara in party ruled Madhya Pradesh despite an aggressive campaigning by the saffron party.
The two hill states Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand brought cheer among the Congress managers as the by-poll wins indicated that the voters were still backing the grand old party in Himachal and returning to the party in Uttarakhand. The Congress had performed badly in both the hill states in the recent Lok Sabha polls.
“The Congress workers are very excited. The people have voted against the BJP’s high-handedness in the by-polls. They blessed our candidate Lakhpat Butola in Badrinath and taught a lesson to BJP’s Rajendra Bhandari who had left the Congress to join the saffron party just before the Lok Sabha polls. The people have welcomed our candidate Qazi Nizamuddin in Manglaur seat which we won from the BSP and where the Muslim voters were attacked by saffron party’s goons,” former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat told ETV Bharat.
“The message of the people to the Congress is that if the party plays a strong and effective opposition, they will support us in the 2027 assembly polls. We will now expose the real face of the BJP government,” he said.
According to AICC in charge of Himachal Pradesh Rajeev Shukla, the voters had given a strong reply to the BJP which had tried to destabilize the Congress government.
“The two seats in the state have taken the Congress tally to 40 in the House of 68 and will provide stability to the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government which faced rebellion from six MLAs during the last round of Rajya Sabha elections. The BJP used money power to bring about the resignation of 9 MLAs including three Independents but six out of them have lost the by-elections. The BJP spoiled the political career of these six persons. Now, the people have given a strong reply to the BJP,” Shukla told ETV Bharat.
The Dehra seat in HP has been won by Kamlesh Thakur, wife of chief minister Sukhu.
The Jalandhar West by-poll had seen a triangular fight between the ruling AAP, BJP and Congress.
The seat had become a battle of prestige between CM Bhagwant Mann, who had named party candidate Mohinder Bhagat in the area dominated by Congress leader and former CM Charanjit Singh Channi. Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Brar congratulated the winner Bhagat but noted that he would have to live up to the expectations of the people.
“It is good that the BJP was defeated in West Bengal but the Amarwara loss in MP is a cause of concern as it comes under Chhindwara the stronghold of former CM Kamal Nath,” said a senior AICC functionary.
