The Assembly by-poll results were a setback for the BJP, which won only two of the 13 seats while the INDIA bloc secured 10 seats. Is it a sign of an early dissatisfaction with the ruling NDA and the rising popularity of Rahul Gandhi?
Our Bureau
New Delhi/Dehradun/Kolkata
The results of last week’s Assembly bypolls came as a setback for BJP which won only two of 13 seats with INDIA bloc winning 10 seats and an independent candidate winning a seat in Bihar defeating the ruling NDA.
Polling took place on July 10 for the assembly seats in seven States: Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh.
The results brought a lot of comfort to Congress, which won two of three seats in Himachal Pradesh and two seats in Uttarakhand. Congress winning two seats in Himachal Pradesh has increased the comfort factor for the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government which now has 40 MLAs against 28 of BJP.
The Congress had failed to win any seat in the two states in the Lok Sabha polls. Some of those who lost the assembly polls were leaders who had joined BJP after quitting their parties.
Congress leader KC Venugopal targeted the BJP and said that the results of the bye-elections in the country reflects a resounding victory for democracy and a strong rebuke to the BJP’s divisive politics.
In a statement issued by the party’s General Secretary (Organisation), Venugopal said, “Today’s by-poll results stand as a resounding victory for democracy and a strong rebuke to the BJP’s divisive politics. Out of the 13 seats contested across Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu, the INDIA alliance has secured an impressive 10 seats demonstrating the rejection of the BJP’s anti-people, anti-youth policies, and divisive politics.”
Stepping up his attacks on the BJP, he said, “Even amidst their attempts to undermine our democracy, the truth and the will of the people have prevailed. Today’s results are a tight slap on the BJP’s face, showcasing the public’s strong disapproval of their pro-rich, dictatorial politics.”
Elaborating on the number of seats won by the Congress in Himachal Pradesh, Venugopal said, “In Himachal Pradesh, the Congress party has won two out of the three seats in Dehra and Nalagarh, reclaiming our position with a total of 40 seats. This triumph is a testament to the unwavering faith of the people of Himachal who have rejected the BJP’s politics of horse trading and defections.”
The by-elections were held in one seat of Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh, two seats of Uttarakhand, three seats of Himachal Pradesh, and four seats of Uttarakhand.
In Himachal Pradesh, Congress secured a win on two out of three seats, where Kamlesh Thakur from Dehra and Hardeep Singh Bawa from Nalagarh secured victory. Ashish Sharma from BJP secured victory in Hamirpur. Thakur defeated BJP’s Hoshiyar Singh by a margin of 9,399 votes. Meanwhile, Bawa defeated BJP’s KL Thakur by a margin of 8,990 votes. On the other hand, Sharma defeated Dr Pushpinder Verma of Congress by a margin of 1,571 votes.
In Punjab, the INDIA alliance’s partner Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) secured victory in Jalandhar West. AAP’s Mohinder Bhagat defeated BJP’s Sheetal Angural by a margin of 37,325 votes.
In Tamil Nadu also, INDIA alliance partner DMK secured a win from Vikravandi seat. Anniyar Siva defeated Anbumani C. of Pattali Makkal Katchi party by a margin of 67757 votes.
Uttarakhand, which is ruled by BJP, witnessed the party losing both the two seats and saw the victory of Congress. In Badrinath, Lakhapat Singh Butola defeated Rajendra Singh Bhandari by a margin of 5224 votes, whereas in Manglaur, which saw a very close competition, Qazi Mohammad Nizamuddin secured victory against BJP’s Kartar Singh Bhadana by a margin of 422 votes.
In all the four seats of West Bengal, All India Trinamool Congress, which is the partner in the INDIA alliance, secured victory and defeated the BJP. In Raiganj, Krishna Kalyani defeated BJP’s Manas Kumar Ghosh by a margin of 50,077 votes. Ranaghat Dakshin, TMC’s Mukut Mani Adhikari secured a win against Manoj Kumar Biswas of BJP by a margin of 39,048 votes. In Bagda, Madhuparna Thakur defeated Binay Kumar Biswas of BJP by a margin of 33,455 votes. In Maniktala, Supti Pandey secured a win against BJP’s Kalyan Chaubey by a margin of 62,312 votes.
The Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge targeted the BJP and said that the results of the bye-elections reflect that the people of the nation want to demolish dictatorship and are standing with the INDIA bloc to establish rule of justice. Taking to his official X handle, Rahul Gandhi said, “The results of the bye-elections in seven states have made it clear that the web of fear and confusion woven by the BJP has been broken.”
He added, “Every class, including farmers, youth, labourers, businessmen and employed people want to completely destroy dictatorship and establish the rule of justice.”
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge asserted that the bypoll results were also “strong evidence of the falling political credibility” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The leader also asserted that the people are now in support of the INDIA bloc and said, “The public is now completely standing with INDIA for the betterment of their lives and protection of the Constitution.”
Congress candidates, who won the two assembly bypolls in Uttarakhand, thanked people for their support and said the results are significant for the party in the state. “People of the country showed their opposition and made the Congress party win. It is the justice of Lord Ram who made a Congress candidate win in the city of Ayodhya and now the same happened in Uttarakhand today. We will keep winning. BJP’s days have gone. Badrinath victory is big. It is similar to Congress’ victory in Ayodhya,” he added.
The Trinamool Congress continued on its winning spree in the West Bengal Assembly bypolls, clinching all four seats, three of which were earlier held by its rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The TMC had won 29 out of 42 seats in West Bengal in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls.
Madhuparna Thakur, daughter of TMC Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Bala Thakur who won by a margin of 33455 votes against BJP’s Binay Kumar Biswas has become the youngest MLA in the West Bengal Assembly.
“It is not only my win but Mamata Banerjee’s win too. It is a win for all the workers and voters. I have seen there are a lot of issues with bridges and roads in this constituency. So, I will work on that. I will stay here for the people…,” TMC winning candidate from Bagda Assembly seat Madhuparna Thakur said.
BJP’s meeting in UP result of nervousness: Ajay Rai
Congress Uttar Pradesh president Ajay Rai on Monday claimed that the BJP’s working committee held a meeting in Uttar Pradesh due to nervousness over the debacle in Lok Sabha polls.
“The BJP leaders are rattled and worried… and this is the result of nervousness….Uttar Pradesh BJP working committee meeting was held at Ram Manohar Lohia Law University, even the educational institutions are being politicized…The public of the state have rejected them,” Rai told ANI.
BJP held its Working Committee meeting in Lucknow on Sunday, in which BJP reviewed the Lok Sabha elections and the upcoming elections. BJP held a one-day state working committee meeting in which the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of the state including the National President of Bharatiya Janata Party JP Nadda participated.
In the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party won 37 seats, the BJP won 33, Congress won 6, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) won 2, and Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) and Apna Dal (Soneylal) won 1 seat each.
The loss suffered by BJP in the Lok Sabha elections and the upcoming elections were reviewed in the meeting and the problems of BJP workers were discussed. In the state working committee meeting, the organizational action plan was put before the senior officials of the party, public representatives and leaders and they were considered.
“In assembly by-polls held across seven states, the INDIA bloc won 10 seats while the BJP was wiped out. The biggest message conveyed by the INDIA bloc and the people of the country is that we have won Ayodhya (in the recent Lok Sabha elections), and now we have won Badrinath. With God’s blessings on the INDIA alliance and Congress, we will uproot the BJP from every corner and win all future elections,” he said.
