In the recent bypolls across 13 assembly seats in seven states, Congress achieved notable successes by securing two seats each in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. This contributed to the INDIA bloc’s overall gain of 10 seats, providing a significant boost to the opposition. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to win only two constituencies, reflecting a competitive political landscape.
In Himachal Pradesh, Congress won the Dehra and Nalagarh seats, with Kamlesh Thakur and Hardeep Singh Bawa defeating their BJP rivals. However, the BJP captured the Hamirpur seat, where Ashish Sharma won against Congress’ Pushpinder Verma. These seats had become vacant after their previous independent MLAs, who supported the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections, joined the BJP and resigned.
In Uttarakhand, Congress emerged victorious in both contested seats. Lakhapat Singh Butola won the Badrinath seat against BJP’s Rajendra Singh Bhandari, while Qazi Mohammad Nizamuddin narrowly defeated BJP’s Kartar Singh Bhadana in Manglaur. These elections were necessitated by the resignation and party-switching of a three-time Congress MLA and the death of a BSP MLA.
Congress Gains Ground in Bypolls, INDIA Bloc Strengthens Opposition Across States
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), part of the INDIA bloc, won in Punjab’s Jalandhar West with Mohinder Bhagat defeating BJP’s Sheetal Angural. In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) secured four seats, with victories by Krishna Kalyani, Mukut Mani Adhikari, Madhuparna Thakur, and Supti Pandey. The TMC maintained an early lead throughout the vote count.
Other significant results included the BJP’s win in Madhya Pradesh’s Amarwara seat, where Kamlesh Pratap Shah defeated Congress’ Dheeran Shah, and an independent candidate’s victory in Bihar’s Rupauli seat. Additionally, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) retained the Vikravandi seat in Tamil Nadu, with Anniyur Siva defeating the PMK candidate.
The bypolls were a critical test for the BJP, which previously secured 240 seats, short of the 272-majority mark, and relied on alliances within the NDA coalition to form a government. Support from allies such as the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) was crucial for the NDA to surpass the halfway mark in the assembly.
