BJP gets a jolt in Raj, losing ground in UP

Published on:

16 Sep 2014, 12:00 am

BJP suffered a jolt in Rajasthan winning just one of the four seats and was losing ground in Uttar Pradesh where Samajwadi Party(SP) was ahead during counting of votes in the bypolls today exactly four months after it swept the two states in lok Sabha elections.

In Gujarat, ruling BJP could retain only six of the nine seats while Congress bagged two and was ahead in one. All the nine seats were earlier held by BJP and were vacated after their sitting MlAs were elected as MPs.

The BJP, however, had a reason to smile in West Bengal where it made its debut in the state assembly on its own by winning the Basirhat Dakshin seat. The bypolls for 33 seats spread over 10 states were held on September 13.

The outcome of the bypolls are seen as yet another test of Narendra Modi government's popularity since it assumed power in May. It is also important as BJP prepares for polls in Haryana and Maharashtra next month where it hopes to oust the Congress in the two states.

In a jolt to the Vasundhara Raje government in Rajasthan, opposition Congress wrested three Assembly seats of Weir, Nasirabad and Surajgarh from the ruling BJP which could retain only the Kota seat. BJP had won all the 25 seats at stake in the lok Sabha polls.

"It is a huge effort by the Congress party workers and I must give credit to each and everyone especially young people," said Congress leader and former Union Minister Sachin Pilot, who is trying to revive the party in Rajasthan.

In Uttar Pradesh, where 11 seats were at stake, ruling SP bagged the first seat winning Thakurdwara in Moradabad district where its candidate Nawabjaan defeated his nearest rival Rajpal Singh of BJP by a margin of 27,023 votes.

It was ahead in eight while BJP was leading in two.

While BSP did not contest the bypoll, Congress and SP fielded candidates on all the 11 Assembly seats, whereas BJP contested on 10 and its ally Apna Dal on one.

"I am grateful to the people of Uttar Pradesh for helping the Samajwadi Party," a visibly happy Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said.

The current BJP President Amit Shah had scripted the sweep in UP helping the saffron party bag 71 seats while its ally Apna Dal got two out of the 80 seats in the politically crucial state.

The bypolls in Gujarat are also considered to be a test for new Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel under whose leadership, the elections are being held for the first time after Modi became the Prime Minister. BJP had won all the 26 lok Sabha seats.

Trinamool Congress won the prestigious Chowringhee Assembly segment for the second seat in West Bengal.

BJP lEADS IN ONE ASSAM SEAT, AIUDF IN TWO

The AIUDF was leading in two Assam assembly seats where bypoll was held while the BJP was leading in a third constituency Tuesday.

The AIUDF was leading in lakhipur with over 4,000 votes while the BJP candidate was in the lead in Silchar assembly seat with a margin of about 3,500 votes. In Jamunamukh seat, the AIUDF candidate was in the lead with over 8,000 votes.

The counting, which began early Tuesday, will decide the fate of 25 candidates who are in the electoral fray this time in the three constituencies.

While there are 12 candidates contesting for the Silchar legislative assembly constituency, five candidates are contesting for the lakhipur assembly constituency. For Jamunamukh assembly constituency, there are eight candidates in the fray.

There were a total of 509,689 electors, including 244,543 women, eligible voters in the three constituencies. Besides, there are another 1,456 service voters in the three legislative assembly constituencies.

The voter turnout Saturday was a little over 67 percent polling. Assam's Deputy Chief Electoral Officer P K Doley said Tuesday: "The counting has started in three counting halls under two counting centres and we expect to complete the counting by 2 p.m."

The concerned district administration have arranged for tight security in and around the counting halls to ensure smooth counting.

Arun Dutta Majumdar (Congress), Dilip Kumar Paul (BJP) and Nur Ahmed Barbhuyan (AIUDF) are among the prominent contestants in Silchar, former Congress lawmaker Dinesh Prasad Goala's son Rajdeep Goala (Congress), Mukesh Pandey (AIUDF) and Sanjay Thakur (BJP) are notable candidates in lakhipur constituency.

In the Jamunamukh constituency, AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal's son Abdur Rahim Ajmal is one of the prominent candidates against Bashir Uddin laskar of Congress and Bilal Uddin (BJP).

The bypoll for Silchar constituency was necessitated after Congress legislator Sushmita Dev's election to the lok Sabha, while the Jamunamukh seat was vacated by AIUDF leader Sirajuddin Ajmal after he got elected to the lok Sabha from Barpeta. The lakhipur seat, however, fell vacant after the death of sitting legislator and former minister Dinesh Prasad Goala.

Trinamool Congress, Cong leading in Bengal Assembly bypolls

PTI | Kolkata

Trinamool Congress and Congress are leading in Basirhat Dakhin and Chowringhee Assembly constituencies in West Bengal, bypolls for which were held on September 13.

Dipendu Biswas of Trinamool Congress, is leading over BJP's Samik Bhattacharya in Basirhat Dakhin seat by 10,820 votes after the fourth round of counting.

The seat was won by CPI(M)'s Narayan Mukhopadhyay in 2011. The by-election was caused due to his death.Santosh Pathak of Congress is leading over Nayana Bandyopadhyay of Trinamool Congress in Chowringhee seat by 2000 votes after the third round.

Nayana Bandyopadhyay is the wife of Sudip Bandyopadhyay, leader of the Trinamool Congress parliamentary party.BJP state secretary and spokesman Ritesh Tiwary is also among the contestants from the Chowringhee seat.

The seat was won by Sikha Mitra of Trinamool Congress in the 2011 Assembly elections. The by-election was held as the seat fell vacant after Mitra's resignation from the TMC. The fate of 14 candidates would be decided today - nine in the Chowringhee constituency and five in Basirhat Dakshin in North 24-Parganas district.