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Bypoll results: BJP's big show in UP, Tripura, AAP suffers setback in Punjab; How parties reacted
The elections were held for the Lok Sabha seats of Punjab's Sangrur and Uttar Pradesh's Rampur and Azamgarh, and for Assembly seats across Tripura, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Delhi.
The counting of votes for three Lok Sabha and seven Assembly seats spread across five states and Delhi took place on Sunday amid high security. The bypolls for the same were held on June 23. The elections were held for the Lok Sabha seats of Punjab's Sangrur and Uttar Pradesh's Rampur and Azamgarh, and for Assembly seats across Tripura, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Delhi.
In Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party suffered a big blow having lost both its Lok Sabha seats of Rampur and Azamgarh to the ruling BJP. In Punjab, the AAP lost the Sangrur parliamentary seat vacated by Bhagwant Singh Mann when he became Punjab chief minister to SAD (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann.
The BJP put up a good show in Tripura as it bagged victory on three of the four seats that went to bypolls. Chief minister Manik Saha was among the winners as he won the Town Bardowali Assembly seat by a margin of 6,104 votes.
In Jharkhand, Congress candidate Shilpi Neha Tirkey won the by-election to the Mandar seat, defeating her nearest rival, BJP's Gangotri Kujur, by a margin of 23,517 votes.
In Delhi's Rajinder Nagar assembly bypoll, AAP candidate Durgesh Pathak won with a comfortable margin against BJP rival Rajesh Bhatia. In Andhra Pradesh, the Jagan Reddy-led YSRCP won the Atmakar Assembly seat.
Here's how political leaders reacted:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed gratitude to all those who voted for the BJP in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Delhi, and Punjab. "Gratitude to all those who voted for @BJP4India in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Delhi and Punjab. We will keep working among the people and keep raising issues of public welfare," tweeted the Prime Minister.
BJP chief JP Nadda said: “BJP's historic victory in by-poll in UP's Rampur & Azamgarh shows the trust of people in PM Modi & CM Yogi govt's pro-poor policies. I express my gratitude to the people of the state. In the last election, SP won, but BJP won on these seats this time.”
On the big win from UP, chief minister Yogi Adityanath hailed the two victories as a reflection of the 2024 general elections, while Akhilesh Yadav termed the results "murder of democracy".
"Today's victory has given this message very clearly in front of everyone that in 2024, the BJP is going to win 80 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh," Yogi said.
The SP president accused the ruling party of deceit and misusing state machinery in the polls. "The chronology of 'murder of democracy' in BJP rule: conspiracy to reject nominations, suppress candidates, misuse machinery to prevent (voters from) voting, irregularities in counting, pressure on public representatives and toppling of elected governments. This is the bitter truth about 'Azadi ke Amrit Kaal'," he said in a series of tweets in Hindi.
"This victory of the BJP is the victory of dishonesty, deceit, disregard for democracy and constitution, coercion, hooliganism by the administration, the 'Dhritarashtra' vision of the Election Commission, and hijacking of the public mandate by BJP's 'Kaurav' army. Democracy is bleeding and the public mandate lost," he added.
AAP candidate Durgesh Pathak attributed his victory in the Delhi bypolls to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's work in the national capital."It's the victory of Kejriwal. It's victory of the work being done by him,” Pathak said while addressing his party leaders and workers at the AAP headquarters after the bypoll results came in.
Seventy-seven-year-old Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) president and former IPS officer Simranjit Singh Mann, who won Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, thanked the voters for his victory. "I am grateful to the voters of Sangrur for having elected me as their representative in Parliament. I will work hard to ameliorate the sufferings of our farmers, farm labourers, traders and everyone in my constituency," he said.
(With agency inputs)
