Hyderabad: The results of the bypolls to three Lok Sabha seats and 29 assembly constituencies spread across 13 states were declared on Tuesday.
In a setback to the BJP in Himachal Pradesh, it was a clean sweep for Congress in bye-elections for one parliamentary seat (Mandi), the home district of chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, and three assembly seats (Fatehpur, Jubbal Kotkhai and Arki). According to poll results announced by the Election Commission, the Congress retained Fatehpur and Arki Assembly seats while it wrested Jubbal-Kotkhai seat and Mandi Lok Sabha seat from the BJP.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi credited the bypoll results to the party workers. "Every victory for the Congress is a victory of our party worker. Keep fighting hate. No fear!" he said on Twitter.
BJP chief J P Nadda congratulated party workers and expressed ''gratitude to the people for the victory of BJP and NDA in the Lok Sabha and Assembly by-elections''. However, BJP state unit feels that inflation is one of the reasons behind humiliating defeat in the bypolls.
The Trinamool Congress swept the four seats- Dinhata, Khardaha, Gosaba (SC) and Santipur- in West Bengal. ECI data shows TMC's Sovandeb Chattopadhyay won the Khardaha assembly seat by a margin of over 93,000 votes, whereas in Dinhata constituency, TMC's Udayan Guha won by a margin of over 1.6 lakh votes. In Santipur seat, TMC's Braja Kishor Goswami won by a margin of 64,675 votes over BJP's Niranjan Biswas. TMC's Subrata Mondal won the Gosaba assembly seat by a margin of 1,43,051 seats over BJP's Palash Rana.
Also read: By-poll victory: Development wins over hate politics, says Mamata
In Haryana, INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala defeated BJP's Gobind Kanda with a margin of over 6,700 votes in Ellenabad Assembly bypolls. The bypoll was necessitated after Chautala resigned as the MLA from the seat in January in protest against the Centre's contentious farm laws.
In the Karnataka by-elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Sindgi assembly constituency while the Congress claimed victory on the Hangal seat. BJP's Bhusanur Ramesh Balappa won the Sindgi constituency by 31,185 margins of votes over Congress's Ashok Mallappa Managuli. Congress's Mane Shrinivar won the Hangal constituency by a margin of 7373 votes over the BJP's Shivaraj Sharanappa Sajjanar.
Shiv Sena candidate Kalaben Delkar won Dadra and Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha seat by margin of 51,269 votes. While Kalaben Delkar (50), wife of former independent MP Mohan Delkar whose death necessitated the bypoll, garnered 1,18,035 votes, her closest rival, BJP's Mahesh Gavit, bagged 66,766 votes.
Congress' Jitesh Antapurkar won the by-election in Deglur-Biloli assembly constituency in Maharashtra. He defeated BJP's Subhash Sabane by 41933 votes.
In Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) retained both Tarapur and Kusheshwar Asthan Assembly seats. In Tarapur, JD-U's Rajeev Kumar Singh defeated his nearest rival RJD's Arun Kumar by a margin of 3,852 votes. JD-U's Aman Bhushan Hajari defeated his nearest rival RJD's Ganesh Bharti by a margin of 12,695 votes in Kusheshwar Asthan.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav conceded defeat and said he acknowledged the mandate of the people. "We respect the mandate the public has given," he said.
While, RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav said that the party lost because of state president Jagdanand Singh, MLC Sunil Singh and Sanjay Yadav. He accused them of ruining RJD. "I know how much pain Tejashwi must be feeling today," he told reporters.
LJP leader Pashupati Kumar Paras took a dig at RJD saying that despite party supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav's poll campaigning in both the assembly seats, the party witnessed a loss in the elections. "The campaigning done by RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in Kusheshwar Asthan and Tarapur assembly setas for by-polls in Bihar was a loss for their party rather than a gain," said Paras.
Read: RJD will register a big victory in bypolls: Lalu Yadav
The ruling Congress in Rajasthan won the bypolls to the Vallabhnagar and Dhariawad Assembly segments. With the win, the tally of the Congress in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly reached 108 against BJP's 71 MLAs.
In Madhya Pradesh, the ruling BJP retained Khandwa Lok Sabha seat and wrested Jobat (SC) and Prithvipur assembly seats from the Congress. The Grand Old Party managed to avoid a whitewash by wresting Raigaon (ST) segment from the saffron party.
The ruling BJP-led alliance in Assam won all the five Assembly constituencies where by-polls were held, with the saffron party bagging three seats and its ally United Peoples' Party Liberal (UPPL) emerging victorious in the two other. BJP's Phani Talukdar, Rupjyoti Kurmi and Sushanta Borgohain retained their respective Bhabanipur, Mariani and Thowra seats which they had won in the assembly elections held earlier this year on tickets given by other parties but resigned after joining the saffron party.
Read: Assam bypolls: BJP leading in three seats, its allies in two seats
Kurmi retained the Mariani assembly constituency for the sixth time defeating Congress candidate Luhit Konwar by 40,104 votes while Talukdar won the Bhabanipur seat for the second time beating Sailendra Das of the grand old party by 25,641 votes. Borgohain also retained the Thowra constituency winning by a margin of 30,561 votes over Raijor Dal's Dhaijya Konwar, who fought as an independent candidate.
In Telangana, BJP's candidate and former minister in state government Eatala Rajender won. Huzurabad seat fell vacant after Eatala Rajender resigned from ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and joined the BJP. On June 12 this year, Rajender had submitted his resignation as Huzurabad MLA after he was sacked from the state Council of Ministers following allegations of land encroachments.
In Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress Party won the leading Badvel assembly constituency. The seat fell vacant following the death of ruling YSRC Party legislator Gunthoti Venkata Subbaiah in March this year.
The ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) won the by-election to the Tuirial assembly seat in Mizoram by securing 39.96 percent of the total 14,593 votes polled.
In Meghalaya, the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance got a shot in the arm, as it clinched all three assembly seats. The National People's Party wrested Rajabala and Mawryngkneng seats from the Congress, while the United Democratic Party, a partner in the MDA government, emerged victorious in Mawphlang, Chief Electoral Officer FR Kharkongor said.
(agency inputs)
