By-poll results show BJP’s winning streak will continue
Despite the EVM tampering allegations, it seems the BJP’s victory march is unstoppable, if the by-poll results are anything to go by. As of now, the BJP has secured victory in four Assembly seats already, while leading in two others, out of ten constituencies across eight states.
BJP leads the way
BJP has already taken Bhoranj in Himachal Pradesh, is leading in Dholpur in Rajasthan (from Mayawati’s BSP), Ater in Madhya Pradesh (from the Congress), while retaining Bandhavgarh in MP. BJP’s Ranoj Pegu has won Dhemaji seat in Assam, while the party’s Anil Dhiman secured victory in the Bhoranj seat in Himachal Pradesh.
Madhya Pradesh bypolls: BJP's Shivnarayan Singh wins from Bandhavgarh with a margin of 25476 votes. pic.twitter.com/D1NwnugUFe
— ANI (@ANI_news) April 13, 2017
BJP’s Shobha Rani is handsomely ahead in Dholpur, Rajasthan by a margin of 12,427 votes and counting. Ranoj Pegu has beaten his rival Babul Sonowal of the Congress by over 9,000 votes to win the Dhemaji by-poll Assembly seat.
Delhi chapter
But the biggest victory is the Delhi by-poll in Rajouri Garden seat, which fell vacant when AAP legislator Jarnail Singh quit to contest Punjab Assembly polls. The Rajouri Garden seat has been won by the BJP’s Majinder Singh, and AAP has lost its deposit in this seat, coming a distant third, after Congress in second position.
Supporters celebrate as BJP candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa continues to lead, by a margin of 5928 votes in Rajouri Garden bypoll #Delhi pic.twitter.com/x2jASMPKwh
— ANI (@ANI_news) April 13, 2017
Rajouri Garden is a big defeat for AAP and a massive morale boost for the BJP, which is all set to score a victory in the upcoming MCD elections. The current constituency was carved out 2008 and was until then a Congress bastion, with the party’s Ajay Maken being elected thrice as an MLA from this seat.
Rajouri Garden by-poll: AAP losing deposit where it won2015: AAP 47% BJP+ 38% Cong 12%Current count 4th round: BJP+ 50% Cong 33% AAP 10%
— Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) April 13, 2017
However, AAP’s Jarnail Singh lent Maken a thorough defeat in the 2015 Assembly polls, when Congress failed to win even one seat in the 70-strong Delhi Assembly. But Jarnail quitting to contest against Parkash Singh Badal of Shiromani Akali Dal didn’t go down well with Rajouri Garden residents.
BJP’s Majinder Singh has thoroughly defeated the AAP candidate, giving a fresh blow to Arvind Kejriwal’s political ambitions after the humiliations in Goa and Punjab polls.
TMC wins Bengal by-poll, but BJP is second
In West Bengal’s Kanthi Dakshin seat, the ruling Trinamool Congress candidate Chandrima Bhattacharya has won.
Trinamool is leading #BengalBypoll by a margin of 40000 votes after 13 rounds. Do you see any tweets by Delhi media?
— Agnivo Niyogi (@Aagan86) April 13, 2017
The by-poll took place because TMC’s Dibyandu adhikari was elected to Lok Sabha from Tamluk seat. The TMC victory is handsome and thorough, getting over 50 per cent of the votes. However, a close second is neither the Left nor the Congress, but the BJP, with almost 30 per cent of the votes.
Biggest bypoll result for me is massive BJP gains in West Bengal, emerges as primary opposition to CM Mamta BannerjeeHuge, if same in 2019
— Ishkaran S. Bhandari (@Ish_Bhandari) April 13, 2017
This is a big indication that slowly and steadily, it’s the BJP that’s occupying the opposition space in West Bengal, and a competition between TMC and the BJP/RSS is only likely to heat up further in the months to come.
Congress wins in Karnataka
The ruling Congress retained its hold over Karnataka, winning Nanjangud and Gundlupet Assembly seats. Congress's Kalale N Keshavamurthy defeated his nearest rival, V Srinivas Prasad (BJP), by over 21,000 votes in Nanjangud. In Gundlupet, Geetha Mahadevaprasad (Congress) trounced BJP's C S Niranjan Kumar by over 10,000 votes.
Congress registers big win both Nanjanagud & Gundlupete Assembly seats. BJP suffers a huge defeat. Locals say credit to CM #Karnatakabypoll
— DP SATISH (@dp_satish) April 13, 2017
Kashmir’s dismal situation
Srinagar had already seen the lowest turnout in 38 years with just six per cent voting on April 9. Election Commission had ordered re-polling after eight civilians were killed and about 100 security personnel injured in the clashes that broke out in many parts of the state.
Decades of hard work to build trust in the democratic process in Kashmir reversed in less than 3 yrs by the BJP Govthttps://t.co/jodITgiZNe
— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) April 10, 2017
Re-election in 38 polling stations across the parliamentary constituency is happening today, but there’s low turnout as usual.