Bypoll verdict sinks BJP’s stocks as turncoat gambit boomerangs
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BJP scores 2/13 in Assembly byelection verdict while Opposition sweeps
In the recent Assembly by-elections, the opposition INDIA bloc secured a significant victory, winning 10 out of the 13 seats. The BJP managed to win only 2 seats, while an independent candidate won the remaining seat in Bihar. This result highlights a strong performance by the opposition across multiple states, including West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, July 13: The Assembly bypoll verdict on Saturday further bruised the pride of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP could win just two of the 13 Assembly seats.
The Opposition bloc, the Indian National Developmental and Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), got fresh shots in the arms. The Opposition bloc won 10 of the 13 Assembly seats. One independent turned winner.
The 13 Assembly seats were spread over across several states. But the significance of the verdict gave grim messages to the BJP.
The bypoll verdict once more asserted that the BJP gambit to ride the turncoats is boomeranging. The turncoats fielded by the BJP in most of the Assembly seats lost the elections on Saturday.
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Worse for the BJP appears to be the writing on the wall in West Bengal. The BJP is fast losing grounds in Mamata Benerjee ruled state.
The BJP drew a blank in the West Bengal bypoll verdict. The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMCS) won all the four Assembly seats — Raiganj, Ranaghat South, Bagda and Maniktala.
The TMC has asserted its dominance in the West Bengal politics, close on the heels of the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP tally had come down from 18 Lok Sabha seats to 12 parliamentary constituencies.
The BJP bid to create opportunity in Himachal Pradesh also came a cropper. The ruling Congress won two Assembly seats to boost confidence of the incumbent Chief Minister, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
Two turncoat candidates of the BJP – Hoshyar Singh (Dehra Assembly seat) and Krishan Lal Thakur (Nalagarh) — lost the byelections. Incidentally, the BJP had fielded three turncoats in the Himachal Pradesh bypolls. Ashish Sharma gave the lone win for the BJP from the Hamirpur Assembly seat.
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If the ruling parties asserted their domination in the bypolls in West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh, the ruling BJP in Uttarakhand had to bite the dust in the hilly state.
The BJP’s turncoat candidate from Badrinath Assembly seat Rajendra Bhandari lost the bypoll. The Congress won both the Assembly seats in Uttarakhand.
The BJP won one each seat in Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. In contrast, the Congress won four Assembly seats, two each in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
The Congress victory in the two hilly states has come after the BJP had won all the parliamentary constituencies in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The lone Assembly seat in Bihar for which bypoll was held was Rupouli. This seat has gone to an independent candidate Shankar Singh.
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