In a significant boost for the opposition, the INDIA bloc clinched victories in 10 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured wins in two constituencies as votes were counted for the bypolls across 13 assembly seats in seven states on Saturday.
Congress Victories in Himachal Pradesh
The Congress party secured two seats each in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand during the bypolls. In Himachal Pradesh, Congress candidates triumphed in the Dehra and Nalagarh constituencies, although they lost the Hamirpur seat to the BJP.
Key Results in Himachal Pradesh
Kamlesh Thakur, wife of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, won the Dehra seat by a margin of 9,399 votes against BJP’s Hoshyar Singh. Meanwhile, Hardeep Singh Bawa of Congress emerged victorious in Nalagarh, defeating BJP’s KL Thakur by 8,990 votes. However, the BJP captured the Hamirpur seat as Ashish Sharma defeated Congress leader Pushpinder Verma by 1,571 votes.
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These assembly seats were vacated after Hoshyar Singh, Ashish Sharma, and KL Thakur, who were then independent MLAs, along with six Congress rebels, supported the BJP candidate during the Rajya Sabha elections on February 27.
Congress Success in Uttarakhand
In Uttarakhand, Congress’ Lakhapat Singh Butola won the Badrinath seat by defeating BJP’s Rajendra Singh Bhandari by 5,224 votes. The Manglaur constituency was claimed by Qazi Mohammad Nizamuddin, who narrowly defeated BJP’s Kartar Singh Bhadana by 422 votes.
Reasons for Vacancies
The Badrinath seat fell vacant after three-time Congress MLA Rajendra Singh joined the BJP in March. Manglaur went to bypolls following the demise of BSP MLA Sarwant Karim Ansari in October 2023, who had won the seat twice previously.
AAP Victory in Punjab
AAP, an ally of the INDIA bloc, fielded Mohinder Bhagat in Punjab’s Jalandhar West, securing a decisive victory over BJP’s Sheetal Angural by a margin exceeding 37,325 votes.
Trinamool Congress Triumph
Under the leadership of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress won four assembly seats. Krishna Kalyani won from Raiganj, Mukut Mani Adhikari from Ranaghat Dakshin, Madhuparna Thakur from Bagda, and Supti Pandey from Maniktala.
BJP Success Across States
The BJP also emerged victorious in Madhya Pradesh’s Amarwara seat, where Kamlesh Pratap Shah defeated Congress’ Dheeran Shah by 3,027 votes. In Bihar’s Rupauli constituency, independent candidate Shankar Singh defeated Janata Dal (United) candidate Kaladhar Mandal by 8,246 votes.
DMK Retains Tamil Nadu Seat
In Tamil Nadu, DMK retained the Vikravandi assembly constituency as Anniyur Siva defeated PMK candidate Anbumani C by a margin exceeding 67,00 votes.
Bypolls as a Crucial Test
The bypolls served as a crucial test for the BJP, which won 240 seats but fell short of the 272-majority mark, necessitating support from allies within the NDA coalition to form a government. With significant contributions from allies like N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), along with other coalition partners, the NDA surpassed the halfway mark required for governance.
