NEW DELHI : In a major boost to the Opposition in the first bypolls after the general elections, the INDIA bloc gained an upper hand over the NDA by winning 10 out of 13 assembly seats that were up for grabs across seven states.
While the BJP managed to secure one seat each in Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, an Independent candidate wrested Bihar’s Rupauli seat.
The bypoll results were keenly watched as they are expected to set the tone for the upcoming elections to four states, J&K, Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand scheduled for later this year.
Coming on the heels of the Lok Sabha elections, the results are a setback to the BJP, which failed to secure a majority of its own to form the government at the Centre.
While the Congress and the Trinamool Congress secured four seats each, the AAP and the DMK picked up one each.
The bypolls were held on Wednesday in four seats in West Bengal, three in Himachal Pradesh, two in Uttarakhand, and one each in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu.
In a direct contest with the BJP in West Bengal, the TMC swept all four seats. The contest was crucial for both the parties as three of the seats fell vacant after BJP MLAs jumped ship to TMC. The fourth seat became vacant after the death of the sitting TMC MLA.
Stakes were high in Himachal Pradesh for both the Congress and the BJP in the election to the three seats — Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagarh. While the Congress won both Dehra and Nalagarh, the BJP pocketed Hamirpur. The election was necessitated after three Independent MLAs joined the BJP. In Dehra, Congress’s Kamlesh Thakur, wife of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu won against the BJP’s Hoshiyar Singh, who had switched sides earlier.
Dealing a blow to the BJP in Uttarakhand, the Congress’s won both Badrinath and Manglaur. Buoyed by the outcome, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “The results have made it clear that the web of ‘fear and confusion’ woven by the BJP has been broken.”
In Tamil Nadu, the ruling DMK candidate Anniyur Siva emerged victorious in the Vikravandi constituency by defeating his nearest rival — NDA constituent PMK’s Anbumani C , by a margin of 67,757 votes.
In Punjab, Mohinder Bhagat of AAP won the Jalandhar West seat.
As for Madhya Pradesh, Congress suffered a setback after BJP’s Kamlesh Pratap Shah won Amarwara, a stronghold of former chief minister Kamal Nath, by a margin of 3,027 votes against Congress’ Dheeran Sah in a close contest.