The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today won the assembly bypolls in Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Assam whereas the ruling Congress in Karnataka retained both the assembly seats where elections were held on April 9.
By-elections were held in ten Assembly constituencies in eight states -- two seats each are in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh and one each in West Bengal, Assam, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Delhi.
Also Read: PM Modi hails by-polls results, terms BJP’s ‘performance impressive’
Delhi
The thumping victory in the national capital was sweet music for the BJP ahead of the municipal polls, slated to be held on March 23. The BJP registered a victory in the Rajouri Garden Assembly bypoll, handing a humiliating defeat to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which finished a distant third and even lost its deposit.
BJP-SAD joint candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa bagged 40,602 seats, over 50 per cent of the total votes polled, in a boost for the saffron party. Congress' Meenakshi Chandela finished second with 25,950 votes while AAP's Harjeet Singh managed to get only 10,243 votes, less than one-sixth of the total votes polled.
Madhya Pradesh
In Madhya Pradesh, BJP retained the Bandhavgarh Assembly seat after defeating rival Congress by margin of over 25,000 votes while it was a close fight between Congress and BJP in Ater seat.
BJP nominee Shivnarayan Singh defeated Congress' candidate Savitri Singh from the seat in Umaria district by 25,476 votes, an election official said. The bypoll was necessitated as BJP MLA Gyan Singh got elected to the Lok Sabha in November last year from Shahdol in a bye election.
Himachal Pradesh
In Himachal Pradesh, BJP candidate Dr Anil Dhiman won the Bhoranj (SC) Assembly seat in Himachal Pradesh by 8,290 votes. The BJP candidate defeated his nearest Congress rival, Promila Devi by 8,290 votes. Dhiman polled 24,453 votes against 16,144 votes polled by Devi while Pawan Chandel, a BJP rebel who contested as an Independent, polled 4,630 votes.
The seat fell vacant following the death of BJP stalwart and former minister Ishwar Dass Dhiman, who won the seat six times in a row since 1990 and now his son Dr Anil Dhiman has retained the seat. With this, the strength of the BJP has increased to 28 in the 68-member House.
Assam
The showing was good for the party in Assam also where its candidate Ranoj Pegu won the Dhemaji Assembly by-election defeating his nearest Congress rival Babul Sonowal by 9,285 votes.
While the BJP candidate polled 75,217 votes, his Congress rival garnered 65,932 votes, the election office here said.
The bypoll was necessitated following the election of BJP MLA Pradan Baruah as MP from Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat. The BJP had won 60 of 126 Assembly seats and formed the government in partnership with its pre-poll alliance partners last year.
Karnataka
The ruling Congress retained its hold over Karnataka, winning Nanjangud and Gundlupet Assembly seats. Congress' Kalale N Keshavamurthy defeated his nearest rival V Srinivas Prasad (BJP) by over 21,000 votes in Nanjangud.
In Gundlupet, Geetha Mahadevaprasad (Cong) trounced BJP's C S Niranjan Kumar by over 10,000 votes, an election official said. Both the seats were held by Congress.
With the Assembly polls slated to be held in about a year, Congress and BJP had played for heavy stakes in the by-polls.
The by-elections were necessitated in Gundulpet following the death of Cooperation Minister Mahadevaprasad and in Nanjangud, it was caused by the resignation of Srinivas Prasad as Congress MLA after he was dropped from the ministry.
Srinivas Prasad had switched over to BJP, while Keshavamurthy had contested the 2013 Assembly polls on a JD(S) ticket.
Rajasthan
The ruling BJP wrested the crucial Dholpur Assembly seat as Shobharani Kushwaha won by a margin of 38,673 votes, defeating Congress’ five time MLA BL Sharma.
Shobharani, wife of convicted former BSP MLA BL Kushwaha, got over 91,548 votes while Congress candidate Sharma secured 52,875 votes.
With this success, the BJP raised its tally of MLAs in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly to 161. The by-election was necessitated following the conviction of Kushwaha in a murder case.
West Bengal
The ruling Trinamool Congress retained the Kanthi Dakshin Assembly seat with an increased margin compared to last year.
Party candidate and former minister Chandrima Bhattacharya won the seat with 95,369 votes, managing to increase the ruling party’s vote share by about 2 per cent.
The BJP candidate, Sourindramohon Jana, came second with a whopping 52,843 votes. The Left and the Congress got only 2,270 and 17,423 votes, respectively.
Jharkhand
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) retained Littipara (ST) Assembly seat in Jharkhand by defeating BJP by 12,900 votes.
The JMM candidate, Simon Marandi, polled 65,551 votes against 52,551 votes polled by BJP's Hemlal Murmu.
Kistu Soren of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) secured the third position.
Ten candidates had contested the by-poll from the seat, which fell vacant following the death of JMM MLA Anil Murmu early this year.
Highlights:
Madhya Pradesh: BJP retains Bandhavgarh Assembly seat after defeating rival Congress by margin of over 25,000 votes
Karnataka: Congress wins from Gundlupet seat
Karnataka: Congress' Kaale N Keshavamuthy wins from Nanjangud with a margin 21,334 votes
West Bengal: TMC candidate Chandrima Bhattacharya is leading over her nearest BJP rival Sourindra Mohan Jana by over 36,000 votes
Madhya Pradesh: BJP's Shivnarayan Singh wins from Bandhavgarh
Delhi: BJP candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa wins from Rajouri Garden seat. The BJP's candidate bagged 40,602 votes whereas Congress stood at second position with 25,950 votes. The AAP managed to garner only 10,243 votes.
Delhi: BJP's Manjinder Singh Sirsa leading his Congress rival by a margin of nearly 6,000 votes, pushing the ruling AAP to a distant third.
Karnataka: Congress leading from both Nanjangud (by a margin of 15896 votes) and Gundlupet
Madhya Pradesh: BJP leading from both Ater and Bandhavgarh
Himachal Pradesh: BJP's Anil Dhiman wins from Bhoranj seat by 8,290 votes
Delhi: The BJP appears heading for a victory in the Rajouri Garden assembly constituency after the end of fifth round of counting, relegating the incumbent AAP to the third position. With 13,542 votes in his kitty, BJP candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa was ahead of his Congress rival Meenakshi Chandela by nearly 4,000 votes. AAP's Harjeet Singh had 2,668 votes to his name by the end of the fifth round of counting.
Rajasthan: BJP leading by around 4,000 votes after first two rounds of counting
Madhya Pradesh: BJP leading from Bandhavgarh, Congress leading from Ater after first round of counting of votes
Karnataka: Congress leads from Nanjangud
Assam: BJP leading by 2,752 votes from Dhemaji
West Bengal: TMC candidate Chandrima Bhattacharya leads
