India
By-election results: INDIA bloc wins 10 of 13 seats in 7 states; BJP gets 2 | India News – Times of India
NEW DELHI: In a crushing victory in the by-elections of the assembly, the opposition INDIA block Saturday, winning 10 of the 13 seats in seven states.
The BJP, which managed to retain power at the Centre with the help of its NDA allies after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, suffered a major setback in the polls as it managed to win just two seats.
The by-elections were held in West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu.
Besides West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil and Punjab, where the INDIA bloc is in power, opposition The alliance also won seats in Bihar and Uttarakhand, two BJP-ruled states.
However, the Hamirpur seat in Himachal Pradesh was won by BJP’s Ashish Sharma.
‘Litmus test’ in hsick state
By-elections in Himachal became necessary after three former independent MLAs — Hoshyar Singh from Dehra in Kangra, Ashish Sharma from Hamirpur and KL Thakur from Nalagarh in Solan — resigned in March this year and joined the Bharatiya Janata Festival (BJP). BJP gave tickets to all three former independent MLAs.
The Congress had fielded Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh’s wife Kamlesh Thakur against BJP’s Hoshyar Singh in Dehra, Pushpinder Verma against BJP’s Ashish Sharma in Hamirpur and Hardeep Singh Bawa against BJP’s KL Thakur in Nalagarh.
In a litmus test for the former three independent MLAs, who CM Sukhu repeatedly accused of being part of a BJP conspiracy to topple his government, two of them lost the elections, with only Ashish Sharma managing to win the Hamipur Assembly seat.
TMC’s clean slate in West Bengal
After the BJP suffered a nasty surprise due to an unexpected drop in the Lok Sabha tally in West Bengal from 18 seats in 2019 to 12 in 2024, the party suffered yet another defeat in the by-elections on Saturday as the ruling TMC won all four seats that went to polls.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidates Krishna Kalyani, Madhuparna Thakur, Mukut Mani Adhikari and Supti Pandey won the seats in Raiganj, Bagda, Ranaghat Dakshin and Maniktala respectively.
With this huge victory, the ruling TMC in West Bengal gained majority in the Matua community, namely Bagda and Ranaghat Dakshin, after eight years.
The BJP secured the Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagda and Raiganj segments in the 2021 elections. However, despite the victory, the MLAs switched over to the TMC.
The three seats fell vacant after Bagda MLAs Kalyani, Adhikari and Biswajit Das resigned to contest the Lok Sabha elections on TMC tickets. Kalyani, who lost to BJP’s Kartik Chandra Paul in the Lok Sabha elections, was re-nominated from Raiganj in the by-elections.
The Maniktala seat was won by the TMC in 2021, but fell vacant after former state minister Sadhan Pandey passed away in February 2022.
BJP loses in Bihar, Uttarakhand
BJP, which is in power in Uttarakhand and Bihar, lost by-elections in the states. In Uttarkhand, the saffron party lost both seats that went to polls, while in Bihar, an independent won the election.
Lakhpat Singh Butola of the Congress on Saturday won the by-elections to the Badrinath Assembly, defeating his nearest rival, former minister and BJP MLA Rajendra Singh Bhandari, by 5,224 votes. Another Congress candidate, Qazi Mohammad Nizamuddin, won the Manglaur seat.
In Bihar, independent candidate Shankar Singh won the Rupauli Assembly seats, defeating JD(U) candidate Kaladhar Prasad Mandal by over 5,000 votes.
BJP wins Madhya Pradesh
Apart from Himachal’s Hamirpur, the only seat that BJP managed to win was the Amarwara assembly seat of Madhya Pradesh. Kamlesh Shah of BJP defeated Dhiren Shah Inavati of Congress by over 3,252 votes.
Big win for AAP in Punjab
AAP candidate Mohinder Bhagat triumphed in the by-elections in Jalandhar West, securing a whopping 58 per cent of the votes. Bhagat’s victory was a major setback for the Congress, which dropped to third position behind the BJP.
DMK retains Vikravandi seat
The ruling DMK won the by-election from Vikravandi constituency by a margin of 67,757 votes and NDA constituency Pattali Makkal Katchi finished second with 56,296 votes.
Anniyur Siva, alias A Sivashanmugam, of the DMK, was leading throughout the vote count and the lead over his nearest rival, the PMK nominee C Anbumani, was widening round after round.
The BJP, which managed to retain power at the Centre with the help of its NDA allies after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, suffered a major setback in the polls as it managed to win just two seats.
The by-elections were held in West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu.
Besides West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil and Punjab, where the INDIA bloc is in power, opposition The alliance also won seats in Bihar and Uttarakhand, two BJP-ruled states.
However, the Hamirpur seat in Himachal Pradesh was won by BJP’s Ashish Sharma.
‘Litmus test’ in hsick state
By-elections in Himachal became necessary after three former independent MLAs — Hoshyar Singh from Dehra in Kangra, Ashish Sharma from Hamirpur and KL Thakur from Nalagarh in Solan — resigned in March this year and joined the Bharatiya Janata Festival (BJP). BJP gave tickets to all three former independent MLAs.
The Congress had fielded Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh’s wife Kamlesh Thakur against BJP’s Hoshyar Singh in Dehra, Pushpinder Verma against BJP’s Ashish Sharma in Hamirpur and Hardeep Singh Bawa against BJP’s KL Thakur in Nalagarh.
In a litmus test for the former three independent MLAs, who CM Sukhu repeatedly accused of being part of a BJP conspiracy to topple his government, two of them lost the elections, with only Ashish Sharma managing to win the Hamipur Assembly seat.
TMC’s clean slate in West Bengal
After the BJP suffered a nasty surprise due to an unexpected drop in the Lok Sabha tally in West Bengal from 18 seats in 2019 to 12 in 2024, the party suffered yet another defeat in the by-elections on Saturday as the ruling TMC won all four seats that went to polls.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidates Krishna Kalyani, Madhuparna Thakur, Mukut Mani Adhikari and Supti Pandey won the seats in Raiganj, Bagda, Ranaghat Dakshin and Maniktala respectively.
With this huge victory, the ruling TMC in West Bengal gained majority in the Matua community, namely Bagda and Ranaghat Dakshin, after eight years.
The BJP secured the Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagda and Raiganj segments in the 2021 elections. However, despite the victory, the MLAs switched over to the TMC.
The three seats fell vacant after Bagda MLAs Kalyani, Adhikari and Biswajit Das resigned to contest the Lok Sabha elections on TMC tickets. Kalyani, who lost to BJP’s Kartik Chandra Paul in the Lok Sabha elections, was re-nominated from Raiganj in the by-elections.
The Maniktala seat was won by the TMC in 2021, but fell vacant after former state minister Sadhan Pandey passed away in February 2022.
BJP loses in Bihar, Uttarakhand
BJP, which is in power in Uttarakhand and Bihar, lost by-elections in the states. In Uttarkhand, the saffron party lost both seats that went to polls, while in Bihar, an independent won the election.
Lakhpat Singh Butola of the Congress on Saturday won the by-elections to the Badrinath Assembly, defeating his nearest rival, former minister and BJP MLA Rajendra Singh Bhandari, by 5,224 votes. Another Congress candidate, Qazi Mohammad Nizamuddin, won the Manglaur seat.
In Bihar, independent candidate Shankar Singh won the Rupauli Assembly seats, defeating JD(U) candidate Kaladhar Prasad Mandal by over 5,000 votes.
BJP wins Madhya Pradesh
Apart from Himachal’s Hamirpur, the only seat that BJP managed to win was the Amarwara assembly seat of Madhya Pradesh. Kamlesh Shah of BJP defeated Dhiren Shah Inavati of Congress by over 3,252 votes.
Big win for AAP in Punjab
AAP candidate Mohinder Bhagat triumphed in the by-elections in Jalandhar West, securing a whopping 58 per cent of the votes. Bhagat’s victory was a major setback for the Congress, which dropped to third position behind the BJP.
DMK retains Vikravandi seat
The ruling DMK won the by-election from Vikravandi constituency by a margin of 67,757 votes and NDA constituency Pattali Makkal Katchi finished second with 56,296 votes.
Anniyur Siva, alias A Sivashanmugam, of the DMK, was leading throughout the vote count and the lead over his nearest rival, the PMK nominee C Anbumani, was widening round after round.
