Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 26: The outcome of the by-elections for three Lok Sabha and seven Assembly seats across five states showed breaching of bastions of the parties who dominated the scene and the BJP’s continued growth in the national political scenario.
Demonstrating its stronghold in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP floored the Samajwadi Party in its bastion, Rampur and Azamgarh, while in Punjab the Shirmonai Akali Dal (Amritsar) snatched away the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat from the Aam Aadmi Party after the AAP’s massive showing in the recently-held state Assembly elections when the party had won all the Assembly segments in the Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency.
As per the results declared by the Election Commission on Sunday evening, of the seven state assembly seats, the BJP won three, the Congress two and one seat each went to AAP and YSRCP.
In the prestigious fight for the Town Bardowali seat which was crucial for the Tripura BJP chief minister Manik Saha for survival in the office, the party won the seat by a margin of over 6,000 votes. The BJP also won the Jubarajnagar and Surma Assembly seats while Sudip Roy Barman of Congress won the Agartala constituency seat giving the party its sole member in the Tripura Assembly.
But the BJP lost to YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh’s Atmakur Assembly constituency where Mekapati Vikram Reddy was declared winner, while the Congress candidate supported by other parties also won against the BJP nominee in Mandar constituency in Jharkhand y a margin of over 23,000 votes.
The AAP which lost the Sangrur seat bowing out from its sole presence in the Lok Sabha, however, won the Rajinder Nagar seat to the Delhi Assembly.
The Lok Sabha bypolls were held in Rampur and Azamgarh constituencies which were vacated by the Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his close aide Azam Khan respectively on their elections to the UP state Assembly while the Sangrur by-election was caused by the resignation of Bhagwant Mann on his election as the chief minister of Punjab after the AAP’s impressive show in the Assembly elections.
The prime minister Narendra Modi particularly commented on the Lok Sabha by-elections outcome lauding the BJP’s win in Azamgarh and Rampur. Describing the BJP’s victory on the two seats as “historic,” Modi asserted it was indicative of the people’s support for the “double engine” governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh, a reference to the party being power at both places. In his tweets, Modi also thanked people of Tripura for reposing faith in the party’s development agenda and voting its candidates, including Chief Minister Manik Saha, to victory in assembly by-polls.
“Our government will continue fulfilling people’s aspirations. I laud our Karyakartas for their hardwork,” he said, while also praising BJP workers from UP. “Gratitude to all those who voted for the BJP in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Delhi and Punjab. We will keep working among the people and keep raising issues of public welfare,” he added.
