New Delhi: The BJP’s popularity took a hit as the results of the bypolls, that were conducted in two Parliamentary and 51 Assembly seats across 17 states, were declared on Thursday.
The BJP managed to get only one out of the five seats in Bihar, while Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD got two. The Gujarat results were also surprising as the Congress retained its two seats and grabbed a third from the BJP.
In all, the saffron party and its allies grabbed a total of 30 seats.
Another surprise was the AIMIM opening its account in the north with its first victory in Bihar after its candidate Qamrul Hoda defeated Sweety Singh of the BJP in Kishanganj.
The states that strongly backed the BJP were Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim. The BJP had an upper hand in UP where seven out of 11 seats went to it, and it dropped one seat. Its ally, Apna Dal (S), won one. The Samajwadi Party bagged three seat, wresting one each from the BJP and the BSP which drew a blank.
In Bihar, where JD-U chief Nitish Kumar is hoping for his fourth term in 2020, the BJP and its ally seem to be losing ground as it managed only one out of the five Assembly seats where bypolls took place. The RJD bagged two seats. Apart from the MIM, the fifth seat went to Independent candidate Karnjeet Singh who defeated JD-U’s Ajay Kumar Singh.
In Punjab, the Congress bagged three of four seats, losing one to Shiromani Akali Dal in Dakha which had fallen vacant following the resignation of former AAP leader H.S. Phoolka.
The BJP had an advantage in Assam where National Register of Citizens is a burning issue — it got three out of four seats while AIUDF got one.
In Himachal Pradesh, where the BJP has a government in place, the party bagged both the seats, while in Sikkim, the BJP tasted it first ever electoral victory by taking two of the three seats in bypolls that were held. The third seat went to its ally, Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang of Sikkim Krantikari Morcha.
In Meghalaya, the United Democratic Party retained its Shella Assembly candidate after the by-election was necessitated due to the death of UDP president Donkupar Roy. Roy was an MLA from this seat for a record seven times and now his son, Synrem, will hold the fort.
In the two Parliamentary bypolls, the NCP and Lok Jan Shakti Party retained their seats in Satara (Maharashtra) and Samas-tipur (Bihar) respectively.
The Samastipur seat was taken by Prince Raj whose father, Ram Chandra Paswan, had won the seat in the Lok Sabha elections in May for the second consecutive time. The seat fell vacant following his death. Ram Chandra Paswan was the brother of LJSP chief and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
The byelection in Satara was conducted after sitting NCP MP Udayanraje Bhosale defected to the BJP. NCP retained the seat with ease.
