Ruling parties hold sway in bypolls

New Delhi: The assembly byelection results declared on Saturday showed that ruling parties held sway in most of the 13 states. TheBJP and its allies won seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Rajasthan, and the Trinamool Congress swept West Bengal. The assembly bypolls were held in nine seats in Uttar Pradesh, seven seats in Rajasthan, six seats in West Bengal, five seats in Assam, four seats each in Punjab and Bihar, three seats in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Meghalaya.

Out of the 46 seats where byelections were held, the BJP and its allies won 26, a gain of nine seats, followed by Congress with seven -- a loss of six seats. The Trinamool Congress won six, the Aam Aadmi Party three and the Samajwadi Party two seats. The LDF in Kerala and BAP in Rajasthan got one each. Apart from this, two seats in Sikkim were won unopposed by Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) candidates.

In the bypolls to two Lok Sabha constituencies, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi cruised to her maiden electoral victory from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala with a margin of over 4.1 lakh votes against CPI(M)-led LDF’s Sathyan Mokeri, but the party lost Nanded in Maharashtra to the BJP.

After the reverses in the Lok Sabha election, the ruling BJP-led alliance secured its hold over the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh with its candidates winning seven out of nine seats. The BJP retained four seats -- Ghaziabad, Khair, Majhawan and Phulpur -- and wrested Katehari and Kundarki from the SP while its ally RLD retained one. The Samajwadi Party, which had four of these seats, retained Sishamau and Karhal. As the results came in, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said it was a testament to the people’s unwavering faith in the successful leadership and guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The ruling BJP won five of the seven seats in Rajasthan, wresting three from Congress and one from the RLP. The Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) and the Congress retained one seat each. In a boost to the Bhagwant Mann-led government, the ruling AAP in Punjab wrested Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak and Chabbewal assembly segments from the Congress, which ousted AAP from Barnala.

The ruling NDA in Bihar swept the bypolls to four assembly segments, retaining Imamganj (HAM) and wresting from the INDIA bloc Tarari (BJP), Ramgarh (BJP) and Belaganj (JD-U), receiving a boost ahead of the assembly elections due next year. The TMC trounced the opposition in West Bengal, retaining five seats and wresting Madarihat from the BJP, further cementing its political dominance in the state despite the the ongoing protests over the RG Kar incident.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the results of the byelections would help her work for the people. “I would like to thank and congratulate the ‘Maa, Mati and Manush’ from the bottom of my heart. Your blessings will help us work for the people in the coming days. We all are common people and that is our identity. We are not zamindars, but the custodians of the people,” she posted on X.

The ruling National People’s Party (NPP) in Meghalaya also got a boost as party candidate and Chief Minister Conrad Sangma’s wife Mehtab Chandee Agitok Sangma wrested the Gambegre seat from Congress.