Published Sep 08, 2023 | 8:34 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 08, 2023 | 8:34 PM
Opposition bloc INDIA meeting in Mumbai. (INCIndia/ X)
The outcome of the by-elections held in seven Assembly constituencies across six states, just a few months ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, will be read favourably by the Opposition bloc INDIA, as well as the BJP-led NDA.
It is the CPI(M) that has been the biggest loser in the bypoll, losing seats both to the BJP and the Congress. Both CPI(M) and CPI are part of INDIA bloc at the national level.
The INDIA bloc clinched four out of the seven seats, while the NDA alliance won three following the declaration of the results of the 5 September bypolls on Friday, 8 September.
What adds intrigue to this electoral narrative is the pre-election standings in these constituencies. As the by-elections unfolded, both alliances managed to wrest seats from each other in various states.
In Ghosi, Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party had emerged victorious in the election in 2022. Yet, the plot took a dramatic twist as its MLA, Dara Singh Chauhan, defected to the BJP, necessitating the current by-election. This time around, Chauhan lost on the BJP ticket as the Samajwadi Party’s Sudhakar Singh handed him a drubbing.
Meanwhile, in Boxanagar, Tripura, where the CPI(M) candidate had emerged triumphant in the previous election, the BJP managed to secure a staggering 87 percent vote share this time around.
In Dhupguri, West Bengal, the BJP had secured victory in the 2021 election. However, the tables turned as the Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate emerged victorious in the by-election, signalling a shifting dynamic in the state’s politics.
As the nation approaches the Lok Sabha election, the results of these by-elections have added an element of unpredictability, reshaping the politics and alliances and setting the stage for a fiercely contested electoral battle.
The BJP won the by-elections to the Dhanpur and Boxanagar Assembly seats in Tripura’s Sepahijala district on Friday by huge margins, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
BJP’s Tafajjal Hossain won the Boxanagar seat, which has around 66 percent minority voters, by 30,237 votes. Hossain got 34,146 votes, while his nearest rival, Mizan Hossain of the CPI(M), got just 3,909 votes.
BJP candidate Bindu Debnath bagged the Dhanpur seat, which has a significant tribal population, by 18,871 votes. Debnath got 30,017 votes, and his nearest rival Kaushik Chanda of the CPI(M) got 11,146 votes.
Alleging large-scale rigging during the polling and inaction by the ECI, the Opposition CPI(M) boycotted the counting of votes. The two seats witnessed a one-on-one fight between the ruling BJP and the CPI(M), with the other two Opposition parties, the Tipra Motha and the Congress, not fielding any candidates.
An average turnout of 86.50 per cent was recorded in the two seats. The counting was held at the Sonamura Girls’ School amid tight security.
The by-election to the Boxanagar constituency was necessitated by the death of CPI(M) MLA Samsul Haque. Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik’s resignation as the MLA of Dhanpur necessitated the by-election in that seat.
The BJP won the Dhanpur seat for the first time in the Assembly polls held seven months ago, and retained it in the by-election. The ruling party wrested the minority-dominated Boxanagar seat from the CPI(M) in a significant victory in the bypoll.
With these victories, the BJP’s tally in the 60-member Assembly increased to 33. Its ally, the IPFT, has one MLA, while the opposition Tipra Motha has 13 MLAs, CPI(M) has 10, and the Congress has three MLAs.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate Bebi Devi won the by-election to the Dumri Assembly seat in Jharkhand’s Giridih district by defeating AJSU party nominee Yashoda Devi by over 17,000 votes, according to a district administration official.
The candidate of the JMM, which is an INDIA bloc member, got about 1,35,480 votes while NDA candidate Yashoda Devi got about 1,18,380 votes, the official said.
Bebi Devi is the wife of former Jharkhand minister Jagarnath Mahto, whose death in April necessitated the by-election.
She termed her victory as a “true tribute” to Mahto, who had represented the seat since 2004.
Of the total 2.98 lakh eligible voters, 64.84 per cent had cast their votes.
Meanwhile, the vote count secured by AIMIM’s Abdul Mobin Rizvi (3,472) stood below NOTA (3,650).
The BJP retained the Bageshwar Assembly seat in Uttarakhand with its candidate Parwati Dass defeating Congress’ Basant Kumar by more than 2,400 votes.
Dass polled 33,247 votes while Kumar got 30,842 votes, Bageshwar District Magistrate and returning officer Anuradha Pal said.
The BJP won by 2,405 votes, she declared, with 55.44 percent of the electorate having cast their votes.
Parwati Dass, who won the seat, is the wife of the late Chandan Ram Dass whose death in April this year had necessitated the bypoll.
Her husband had been winning the seat consecutively since 2007. This is the fifth time in a row that the BJP has bagged the seat.
The three other candidates in the fray — Uttarakhand Kranti Dal’s Arjun Kumar Dev, Samajwadi Party’s Bhagwati Prasad and Uttarakhand Parivartan Party’s Bhagwat Kohli — lost their deposits getting 857, 637 and 268 votes, respectively.
TMC candidate Nirmal Chandra Roy, a college professor, won the seat by over 4,313 votes.
He bagged 96,961 votes, while his nearest rival, BJP’s Tapasi Roy, the widow of a CRPF jawan killed in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir in 2021, got 92,648 votes, the ECI said.
Iswar Chandra Roy of the CPI(M) secured 13,758 votes, Sadhana Singha Roy of the Bharatiya Nyay-Adhikar Raksha Party secured 2,171, and Ranjit Barman of the Kamatapur People’s Party (United) secured 1,161 votes.
Independent candidate Debasish Roy gathered 994 votes while Rabindra Nath Roy of the Swabhiman Party and NOTA scored 714 and 1,220 votes, respectively.
With this victory, the TMC’s tally went up to 217 in the 294-member Assembly. It also enjoys the support of six BJP MLAs, who switched over to the ruling party but are yet to resign from the House.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee described her party’s win in the Dhupguri by-polls as a “victory of the people”.
“I thank the people of Dhupguri for reposing faith in us and voting decisively in our favour in the critical by-election to the Assembly constituency. People in North Bengal have been with us and trust our strategy of growth, inclusiveness, and empowerment. Bengal has shown its mandate, and soon INDIA too will show its preference. Jai Bangla!” she posted on X.
Samajwadi Party candidate Sudhakar Singh defeated his BJP rival Dara Singh Chauhan in the Ghosi Assembly bypoll in Uttar Pradesh by a margin of 42,759 votes, an official said.
The SP retained the seat, with Singh garnering 1,24,427 votes. Chauhan got 81,668 votes, according to the ECI.
The counting of votes for the bypoll, which is being seen as the first major electoral clash between the ruling NDA and the INDIA opposition bloc in the state, began at 8 am.
With 10 candidates in the fray, a low voter turnout of 50.77 percent was recorded in Ghosi, which falls in Mau district.
The Ghosi bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of Chauhan, who won the seat in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls on an SP ticket. He defected to the BJP and was fielded by the party in the bypoll.
In the 2022 state Assembly polls, Chauhan defeated BJP candidate Vijay Kumar Rajbhar by a margin of 22,216 votes.
In the bypoll, Chauhan was supported by NDA constituents Apna Dal (Sonelal), Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) Party and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), a former SP ally.
On the other hand, some INDIA bloc constituents — Congress, CPI(M), CPI, RLD, AAP, CPI(ML)-Liberation and Suheldev Swabhiman Party — extended support to Singh.
The bypoll will have no bearing on the BJP government, which enjoys a comfortable majority in the 403-member state Assembly. However, its outcome could be an indicator of what is in store for the 2024 Lok Sabha election for the INDIA bloc.
Uttar Pradesh sends 80 MPs to the 543-member Lok Sabha.
UDF’s Chandy Oommen defeated Jaick C Thomas of the LDF by a massive margin of 36,667 votes in the bypoll at Puthupally in Kerala’s Kottayam district.
Chandy Oommen retained Puthuppally — which his late father Oommen Chandy represented for 53 straight years — for the Congress, while the CPI(M)’s attempt to wrest the seat back through its young leader Thomas failed for the third consecutive time.
The UDF candidate polled 80,144 votes, while the LDF could manage only 42,425 votes. The BJP’s Lijin Lal — the party’s district chief — finished third with 6,558 votes. N Hari of the BJP had secured 11,495 votes in the 2021 elections.
The bypoll was necessitated by the 18 July demise of the two-time chief minister, Oommen Chandy. While the Congress fielded his son Chandy Oommen, the CPI(M) once again nominated Thomas, a DYFI Central Committee member.
(With PTI inputs)
