BJP and allies make good in assembly bypolls

The results of series of bypolls which were held in different states were declared on Tuesday with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies winning in Bihar, Maharashtra and Punjab.

The results of series of bypolls which were held in different states were declared on Tuesday with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies winning in Bihar, Maharashtra and Punjab.

A BJP supporter waves the party flag during celebrations after learning of initial poll results outside the party headquarters in New Delhi.(Reuters)

The bypolls were conducted after the death of various candidates as well as resignations in these states.

Bihar

Rashtriya Lok Samata Party’s (RLSP) Sudhanshu Shekhar won the Harlakhi bypoll by beating grand alliance candidate, Mohammad Shabbir of the Congress, by a margin of over 18,650 votes. Shekhar polled 62,434 votes against his nearest rival, who received 47,784 votes.

The bypoll was necessitated because of the death of RLSP candidate Basant Kumar, who had won the assembly elections in 2015 by a margin of 4,000 votes against Shabbir.

Read: Bihar assembly bypoll results: Nitish coalition loses Harlakhi to RLSP

Maharashtra

Ruling alliance partner Shiv Sena retained the Palghar assembly seat as its candidate Amit Ghoda defeated his nearest Congress rival Rajendra Gavit by a margin of 18,948 votes in the keenly fought by-election. The BJP did not contest the bypoll.

Ghoda secured 67,129 votes, while Gavit got 48,181 votes in by-election held after the death of Ghoda’s father and sitting Shiv Sena MLA Krishna A Ghoda on May 24, 2015.

Punjab

The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal convincingly won the Khadoor Sahib assembly by-election in Punjab after its candidate Ravinder Singh Brahmpura defeated his nearest rival by a margin of 65,664 votes.

Brahmpura got 83,080 out of the 107,341 votes polled. His nearest rival, Bhupinder Singh, an independent candidate, polled 17,416 votes. The polls were held on February 13 amidst a boycott of the election by Congress and AAP, making it a one-sided contest for the Akali Dal.

The seat fell vacant after sitting Congress legislator Ramanjit Singh Sikki resigned in October 2015 over last year’s incidents of sacrilege of Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, in Punjab and the state government failing to contain such incidents.

Karnataka

The BJP is leading in two of the three assembly constituencies of Karnataka that went to by-elections on Friday.

According to the office of the chief electoral officer, the BJP is leading in Devadurga and Hebbal constituencies by a margin of 15,025 votes and 16,171 votes, respectively, and Congress in Bidar by a margin of 20,248 votes till around 12pm.

Read: Karnataka by-polls: BJP leads in two constituencies, Congress one

By-polls were necessitated due to the death of sitting members.

Telangana

Continuing with its winning streak, Telangana’s ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) bagged the Narayankhed assembly seat in the by-elections with a huge margin, wresting it from main opposition, the Congress party.

TRS candidate M Bhupal Reddy has been elected with a massive majority of over 53,000 votes over his nearest rival P Sanjeeva Reddy of Congress. Bhupal Reddy polled 93,076 votes while Sanjeeva Reddy secured 39,451 votes. M Vijayapal Reddy of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) finished third with 14,787 votes.

The by-election was necessitated due to the death of sitting Congress legislator P Kishta Reddy in August 2015.

Tripura

The Tripura’s ruling CPI(M) retained the Amarpur assembly constituency in the by-elections, as the Bharatiya Janata Party made inroads in the Left bastion removing the main opposition Congress from the second position.

While CPI(M)’s Parimal Debnath won the elections bagging 20,355 votes, BJP candidate Ranjit Das polled 9,758 votes. The third position was bagged by Pabitra Mohan Jamatia, the candidate of the tribal-based political party Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) candidate, who got 1623 votes. The Congress proved to be the real loser by securing the fourth position gaining 1231 votes.

Read: Tripura assembly bypoll results: CPM retains Amarpur seat

The by-election was necessitated after sitting CPI(M) MLA Manoranjan Acharjee was forced to resign from his post after he was accused of sexually assaulting a minor girl at his party office last year.

(With agency inputs)

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