Bypoll results: BJP scores 3 out of 15

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ The Election Commission began counting of votes on Thursday to declare the results of by-elections held on May 28 in four Lok Sabha and 10 assembly constituencies.

Kairana, UP

Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Tabassum Hasan won the Kairana Lok Sabha by-election in Uttar Pradesh. The Kairana seat had fallen vacant following the death of Mriganka Singh’s father, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Hukum Singh. Hasan is also supported by the Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party. In the Noorpur assembly be-election in the state, Samajwadi Party’s Naeemul Hasan won.

Maharashtra

BJP’s Rajendra Gavit won by 29,572 votes over Shiv Sena’s Shrinivas Wanaga in the Palghar parliamentary bypoll. The by-election in Palghar was necessitated due to the death of sitting BJP MP Chintaman Wanaga. However, the saffron party lost in Maharashtra’s Bhandara-Gondiya parliamentary constituency in which the Nationalist Congress Party has emerged as the leader.

The results of the two Lok Sabha seats — Palghar and Bhandara-Gondiya — in Maharashtra are important for all four major political parties – BJP, Shiv Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party — as the outcome is likely to have a bearing on their future course.

Bihar

In a set back to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal has wrested the Jokihat assembly seat from ruling Janata Dal-United. The RJD candidate Shahnawaz Alam has won the bypoll by over 41,000 votes by defeating JD-U candidate Murshid Alam.

The resignation of JD-U MLA Sarfaraz Alam, who quit the party earlier this year and got elected on an RJD ticket to the Lok Sabha from Araria, a seat held by his late father Mohammad Taslimuddin, necessitated the by-election. 

Kerala

Kerala’s ruling Communist Party of India Marxist-led Left Democratic Front’s Saji Cheriyan won the Chengannur assembly bypoll by a huge margin of 20,956 votes over his nearest Congress rival, officials said. According to the Chief Electoral Office, Cheriyan polled 67,303 votes while the Congress-led United Democratic Front candidate D Vijaykumar got 46,347 votes and BJP’s P S Sreedharan Pillai came third with 35,270 votes.

The bypoll was necessitated following the death of sitting MLA K K Ramachandran Nair of the CPI-M in January this year due to illness. CPI-M state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishna described the victory as the “achievement” of the two-year rule of the Pinarayi Vijayan led government.

It was also a ‘rejection of the soft Hindutva policy’ of the Congress, Balakrishnan told. Leader of Opposition in the assembly and UDF chairman Ramesh Chennithala attributed the LDF victory to the alleged communal card played by the Left Front.

Punjab

Punjab’s ruling Congress candidate Hardev Singh Ladi wrested the Shahkot assembly seat from the Shiromani Akali Dal, defeating the party’s nominee Naib Singh Kohar with a margin of 38,801 votes, an election office spokesperson said. Ladi got 82,745 votes while Akali candidate Kohar polled 43,944 votes in the May 28 bypoll, the spokesperson said.  The seat was considered the SAD’s borough with the late Ajit Singh Kohar, Naib Singh’s father, being elected from there five times.

With this victory, the Congress’s strength in the 117-member Punjab Vidhan Sabha will reach 78, a two-third majority in the House. Aam Aadmi Party candidate Rattan Singh Kakkar Kalan polled just 1,900 votes. Ladi maintained a lead from the start of the counting process for the bypoll, being seen as a barometer for the popularity of the 14-month Congress government of Amarinder Singh. While the Congress celebrated, Kohar alleged that the EVMs were rigged.

“EVMs were tampered. The counting took place before me, but if the machines are not right then what will counting do? There was not a single booth from where I gained,” he alleged. The visibly upset Akali candidate left the counting centre in Jalandhar midway.

In the Congress camp, the mood was euphoric with party workers and leaders distributing sweets and dancing the ‘bhangra’ at the Congress Bhawan in Chandigarh and Jalandhar. “Congratulations to @INCPunjab & Hardev Singh Laddi for the landslide victory in #Shahkot bypoll,” Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said on Twitter.

He was joined by other Congress leaders, including Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar who said the people of Punjab, especially voters of Shahkot, had once again put their stamp of approval on the policies of the state government and the leadership of Amarinder Singh.

Karnataka

Congress’s N Muniratna has won the election from the Rajarajeshwari Nagar constituency in the Karnataka assembly polls. Muniratna defeated his nearest BJP rival Tulsi Muniraju Gowda by 41162 votes. Assembly elections across the state were held on May 12. However, polling in Rajarajeshwari Nagar was deferred to May 28 following a voter ID controversy and other irregularities.

A major row had erupted over electoral malpractices and seizure of nearly 10,000 voter ID cards from an apartment in the constituency, ahead of the May 12 elections. Muniratna had won the seat in the previous assembly.

West Bengal

The Trinamool Congress won ahead of its BJP rival in the Maheshtala assembly seat in West Bengal. The bypoll was held following the death of Trinamool Congress MLA Kasturi Das. The TMC has fielded her husband Dulal Das.

Meghalaya

The opposition Congress became the single largest party in Meghalaya after its candidate Miani D Shira won the bypoll from Ampati assembly seat, vacated by her father Mukul Sangma early this year.

“INC candidate Miani D Shira won by 3191 votes. She secured 14,259 votes against a total of 11,069 votes polled by NPP candidate Clement G Momin,” Chief Electoral Officer F R Kharkongor told. He said the third candidate, an independent, Subhankar Koch, secured just 360 votes.

The seat fell vacant after Shira’s father and former chief minister Mukul Sangma, who won from two seats in the last assembly elections, vacated the seat. Now, the Congress has 21 MLAs in the 60-member assembly, one MLA more than the NPP, which is leading the coalition government with the support of the regional parties and the BJP.

The regional parties, the United Democratic Party having seven MLAs, Peoples Democratic Front (4), HSPDP (2) and the BJP (2) besides an MLA each of the NCP and an independent are constituents of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government.

Jharkhand

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Seema Devi is leading from Silli assembly seat. BJP leading from Gomia assembly seat. Nagaland Tokheho Yepthomi, fielded by the ruling People’s Democratic Alliance is leading over his lone rival of the opposition Naga People’s Front.

The PDA has the NDPP and the BJP as it major constituents.  The Congress has extended its support to the NPF candidate. The bypoll was necessitated after Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, who is also the NDPP leader, resigned as a Lok Sabha member in February, days before the assembly polls.

Uttarakhand

BJP which suffered bypoll losses in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh had the consolation of retaining the Tharali assembly seat in Uttarakhand with its candidate Munni Devi Shah defeating nearest rival former Congress MLA Jeetram by over 1,900 votes. Though the exact victory margin was yet to be announced, officials confirmed that the BJP candidate Munni Devi had won by over 1,900 votes.

The BJP ‘s victory in Tharali, where the fight was close, takes its tally in the 70-member Uttarakhand assembly to 57.  The bypoll to the reserved seat was held on May 28 following the untimely death of sitting MLA Maganlal Shah whose widow was fielded by the BJP.

Soon after the bypoll result was out, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat attributed the party’s victory at the reserved (SC) seat to the hard work of cadres at the grassroots who could take the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the people.

“Though every electoral victory is the result of a combination of factors, I would attribute it primarily to the hard work of party workers at the grassroots who were able to take the Prime Minister’s vision to every household. They were able to convey to the electorate how the PM thinks about the poor, his vision for them as reflected in schemes like the Ujjwala or Jan Dhan Yojana,” the chief minister said.