Bypoll election results: Setback for BJP as party loses in all states

The by-polls election results from the states of Maharastra, West Bengal, Bihar, and Chattisgarh were announced on Saturday for four assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat from Bengal, and the Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) failed to hit the mark in all the states.

Maharastra

In a boost to the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) combine in Maharashtra, the Congress on Saturday won the by-poll to the Kolhapur North Assembly constituency, retaining the seat by defeating the BJP by a margin of over 18,000 votes.

Congress-MVA candidate Jayashri Jadhav bagged 97,332 votes, while BJP’s Satyajeet Kadam polled 78,025 votes.

The by-election to this Assembly segment in Kolhapur district of western Maharashtra was necessitated following the death of sitting Congress MLA Chandrakant Jadhav due to COVID-19 in December 2021. Congress had fielded the late legislator’s widow from this seat. The by-poll was held on April 12 in which 61.19 percent voter turnout was recorded.

West Bengal

The Trinamool Congress swept the by-polls as it demolished rivals in the Asansol Lok Sabha seat where movie actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha won with a margin of nearly 2.8 lakh votes, while its candidate Babul Supriyo won the prestigious Ballygunge assembly constituency.

The by-polls, which took place on April 12, were necessitated as Supriyo resigned as the MP of Asansol after switching over to the TMC from the BJP, while state minister Subrata Mukherjee, who represented Ballygunge, died last year.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee thanked voters from the Asansol Lok Sabha seat and Ballygunge Assembly Constituency for giving a decisive mandate to TMC candidates in both the seats, where by-polls were held.

Bihar

The opposition RJD in Bihar on Saturday wrested the Bochahan assembly seat from the ruling NDA, with its candidate defeating the BJP nominee by a large margin of over 35,000 votes.

RJD candidate Amar Paswan, whose father Musafir Paswan’s death had necessitated the by-election, polled 82,562 votes while his nearest BJP rival Baby Kumari got 45,909 votes.

Expelled state minister Mukesh Sahani’s Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), on the ticket of which Musafir Paswan had won the seat in 2020, finished a distant third with 29,279 votes.

VIP was an NDA constituent till about a month ago.

Chattisgarh

Congress’ Yashoda Niamber Verma won the Khairagarh Assembly seat by bagging 87,879 votes, defeating the rival BJP candidate Komal Janghel who secured 67,703 votes.