A BJP sweep in bypolls, crucial gains in MP secure its govt

Bhopal/Lucknow/Ahmedabad: The BJP on Tuesday swept the assembly by-elections held last week winning and leading in 40 of 59 seats across 11 states, including Madhya Pradesh where it cemented its rule by bagging 17 seats and was poised to add two more.

Overall, the Congress, which had sitting MLAs in more than 40 seats, won 11 seats and was leading in one, while two seats were won by the BJD. One seat each was won by the Samajwadi Party, the JMM and the NDPP, and two by Independents, according to the Election Commission data at around midnight.

The BJP bagged 38 seats and was leading in two. India's ruling party wrested all the eight seats from the Congress in Gujarat, four seats in Manipur and also retained its six constituencies in Uttar Pradesh that went to the polls in the first pan-India electoral exercise in the pandemic.

It won two seats in Karnataka and one in Telangana.

The BJP's win in bypolls coincided with its impressive show in the Bihar Assembly elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the BJP victory in the bypolls in MP, UP, Gujarat and Manipur and thanked the voters.

He expressed his gratitude to the electorate in Dubbak seat in Telangana, where the TRS was defeated, calling it a "historic win".

Modi said BJP's victory in Karnataka's Rajarajeshwarinagar and Sira is special and the results reaffirm people's faith in the reform agenda of central and state governments.

BJP chief J P Nadda and other party leaders too thanked the voters and party workers in these states.

Votes were counted for by-elections in Madhya Pradesh (28 seats), UP (seven), Gujarat (eight) Manipur (five seats), Haryana (one), Chhattisgarh (one), Jharkhand (two), Karnataka (two), Nagaland (two), Odisha (two) and Telangana (one).

If the by-elections spelt a big win for the BJP, it seemed dismal for the Congress, particularly in Madhya Pradesh where it earlier had sittings MLAs in 27 seats out of 28. The party won eight seats and was leading in one seat in the state.

However, it did have a few scattered wins, including in BJP-ruled Haryana where it retained its Baroda seat with its candidate Indu Raj Narwal defeating BJP nominee and Olympian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt. It won one seat each in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

The JD(U) was leading in Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha by-election in Bihar.

Madhya Pradesh

The BJP government, which needed eight MLAs for a simple majority, won 17 seats and was leading in two out the 28 Assembly seats in MP where bypolls were held.

A buoyed Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the outcome proves that voters supported the decision taken by the Congress MLAs to pull down the previous Kamal Nath dispensation.

The BJP came to power in March after the collapse of the Congres-led government following a revolt by a section of Congress MLAs led by Jyotiraditya Scindia. The Congress has secured victory on one seat and was leading in eight constituencies.

In the 230-member house, the BJP tally has increased to 124 with the win, providing stability to the government.

Powered by the "progressive agenda" of the government under Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan and the hardwork of its workers, the BJP has emerged as the "unparalleled choice" of people in Madhya Pradesh, PM Modi said, adding that the people's affection for the party is "invaluable".

MP Congress president Kamal Nath accepted the defeat and said the party made efforts to reach out to people.

"We accept the mandate. We made every effort to reach out to voters. I also thank all voters who participated in the by-elections," Nath said in a tweet.

Despite the BJP's gains, state minister Imarti Devi lost the bypolls from the Dabra assembly seat.

Imarti Devi was among thee Congress MLAs who had switched from the Congress.

Kamal Nath's 'item' jibe at her during campaigning had stoked a controversy.

Gujarat

The ruling BJP on Tuesday won all the eight assembly seats in Gujarat where by-elections were held, dealing a blow to the opposition Congress which had bagged these constituencies in 2017.

Prime Minister Modi said the bond between the people of Gujarat and the BJP is unbreakable and this affection is again seen in the bypolls victory.

The BJP's tally in the 182-member Assembly has now reached 111.

Eight Congress MLAs had resigned before the Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat, and five of them, who were given tickets by the BJP, won on Tuesday.

They are Pradhyumansinh Jadeja (who won from Abdasa seat), Brjesh Merja (Morbi), Akshay Patel (Karjan), Jitu Chaudhari (Kaprada) and J V Kakadiya (Dhari).

On the Limbdi seat in Surendranagar district, former minister Kiritsinh Rana of the BJP, who lost in 2017, defeated Congress' Chetan Khachar.

On the Scheduled Tribe-reserved Dangs seat, BJP candidate Vijay Patel was declared the winner by the EC.

The BJP's Dalit leader and former minister Atmaram Parmar, who had lost in the last election, defeated Mohan Solanki of the Congress on the Gadhada (SC) seat in Botad district.

As party workers broke into celebrations and burst firecrackers at its headquarters in Gandhinagar, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani told reporters his party's performance was a trailer for the upcoming elections to local bodies and the 2022 assembly polls.

Uttar Pradesh

The BJP, which already has a comfortable majority in the UP Assembly, retained six seats and the SP hung on to its Malhani constituency in the bypolls for seven assembly seats, the 6:1 outcome indicating that the ruling party continued its hold over the populous state.

BJP candidate Sangeeta Chauhan won in Naugawan Sadat, Usha Sirohi in Bulandshahr, Prem Pal Dhangar in Tundla, Shrikant Katiyar in Bangarmau, Satya Prakash Mani Tripathi in Deoria and Upendra Nath Paswan in Ghatampur, according to the Election Commission.

Samajwadi Party's Lucky Yadav won Malhani, the seat which was represented by his father Parasnath Yadav, whose death necessitated the by-election. He defeated independent candidate Dhananjay Singh by 4,632 votes.

A tough see-saw battle was fought for the Naugawan Sadat seat held earlier by Chetan Chauhan, the former cricketer who was a minister in Yogi Adityanath's BJP government.

Manipur

According to Election Commission, the BJP had won four seats and one was bagged by an Independent. The by-elections were necessitated as Congress MLAs quit the party to join the BJP.

In Singhat assembly constituency, BJP candidate Ginsuanhau was elected unopposed in October this year.

Karnataka

The ruling BJP won both the seats for which by-elections were held, wresting Sira from the JD(S) and Rajarajeshwari Nagar from the Congress. It created history by recording its first-ever victory in the Sira assembly segment Dr C M Rajesh Gowda winning with a margin of over 12,000 votes.

In R R Nagar, N Munirathana emerged winner with a margin of over 58,000 votes against his nearest Congress rival Kusuma.

Jharkhand

The JMM-led ruling coalition of Jharkhand retained Dumka and Bermo assembly seats, albeit with reduced margins from the 2019 state polls.

JMM candidate Basant Soren, who is the younger brother of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, defeated his nearest BJP rival Lois Marandi, a former minister, by 6,842 votes, in Dumka seat.

The winning margin of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha reduced almost by half compared to what it was in last year's assembly election.

In Bermo constituency, Kumar Jayamangal alias Anup Singh of the Congress defeated Yogeshwar Mahto "Batul", his nearest BJP rival, by a margin of 14,225 votes.

Odisha

The state's ruling Biju Janata Dal won both the Balasore, which was held by the BJP, and Tirtol seats for which by-elections were held.

Haryana

In a big win for the Congress, its candidate Indu Raj Narwal defeated the BJP's candidate, Olympian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, in the Baroda assembly seat in BJP-ruled Haryana.

The Congress retained the seat with Narwal winning by over 10,000 votes, said officials.

The victory of Indu Raj Narwal is a win of farmers and labourers. I assure residents of Baroda that the Congress will live up to their expectations, tweeted Congress leader Kumari Selja.

Chhattisgarh

The ruling Congress won the Marwahi Assembly bypoll, necessitated by the death of Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) founder Ajit Jogi.

Congress candidate Dr K K Dhruw won by 38,197 votes.

Telangana

The BJP wrested the Dubbak Assembly constituency from the ruling TRS in Telangana.

BJP candidate M Raghunandan Rao defeated his nearest rival Solipeta Sujatha of the ruling TRS by 1,079 votes.

Sujata was the wife of sitting TRS MLA Solipeta Ramalinga Reddy whose death in August this year led to the bypolls.

Nagaland

The National Democratic Progressive Party bagged the Southern Angami-I seat in Kohima while an Independent candidate won in the Pungro-Kiphire assembly segment in Kiphire district.

The votes for the November 3 and 7 by-elections were counted along with the ballots for the Bihar polls and progressed in accordance with Election Commission guidelines restricting the number of people in counting halls, officials said.

Extensive measures were taken to ensure social distancing.

(Inputs from PTI)