Priyanka enters Parliament, but BJP dominates Assembly bypolls

New Delhi: The BJP, which won a historic victory in the Maharashtra Assembly elections along with its Mahayuti allies, also maintained its dominance in the bypolls to 48 Assembly seats in 14 states, as per the results announced on Saturday.

The BJP, and its various NDA partners, recorded a clean sweep in Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Sikkim, and Uttarakhand, won most of the seats in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and shared honours with the Congress in Madhya Pradesh.

However, it suffered a reverse in Karnataka and drew nought in Kerala, Punjab, and West Bengal.

The Congress won both the Lok Sabha bypolls - retaining Kerala's Wayanad, won by party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi in her electoral debut, and Maharashtra's Nanded, where Ravindra Vasantrao Chavan, ultimately, was declared the winner.

In Assam, the BJP's Nihar Ranjan Das, Diganta Ghatowal, and Diplu Ranjan Sarmah won the Dholai, Behlai, and Samaguri seats, respectively, while Nirmal Kumar Brahma of the United People’s Party, Liberal won Sidli and Diptimayee Choudhury of the Asom Gana Parishad won Bongaigaon.

The NDA also won all four seats in Bihar - the BJP's Vishal Prashant and Ashok Kumar Singh winning Tarari and Ramgarh, and Hindustani Awami Morcha-Secular candidate Deepa Kumari winning Imamganj and the Janata Dal-United's Manorama Devi winning Belaganj.

Chhattisgarh's Raipur City South and Gujarat's Vav were also won by BJP's Sunil Kumar Soni and Thakor Swarupji Sardarji, respectively.

In Madhya Pradesh, while the BJP’s Ramakant Bhargava managed to win the Bhundi seat, the Congress party’s Mukesh Malhotra managed to win the Vijaypur.

In Meghalaya, National People's Party Mehtab Chandee Agitok Sangma won the Gambegre seat.

The BJP also won five out of seven seats in Rajasthan. The BJP candidates: Rajendra Bhamboo won the Jhunjhunu seat; Rewant Ram Danga won the Khinwsar; Rajendra Gurjar won the Deoli-Uniara; Sukhavant Singh won Ramgarh; and Shanta Amrit Lal Meena won the Salumber.

Bharat Adivasi Party’s Anil Kumar Katara won the Chorasi and Congress’s Deen Dayal won the Dausa seat.

Sikkim Krantikari Morcha in Sikkim swept both seats with Aditya Golay (Tamang) winning uncontested while Satish Chandra Rai won from Namchi.

In Uttarakhand, Asha Nautiyal of the BJP also won the Kedarnath (Uttarakhand) seat.

Meanwhile, Congress swept the bypolls in Karnataka winning all the three seats it had contested. Pathan Yasir Ahmed Khan won the Shiggaon seat; C P Yogeeshwara won the Channapatna seat and E Annapoorna won the Sandur seat.

In Kerala, Congress candidate Rahul Mamkootathil won the Palakkad seat while U R Pradeep won the Chelakkara seat.

The Punjab was dominated by AAP winning three seats while one seat was won by Congress. AAP’s Gurdeep Singh Randhawa won the Dera Baba Nanak seat; Ishank Kumar won the Chabbewal seat; and Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon won the Gidderbaha seat while Congress candidate Kuldeep Singh Dhillon Kala Dhillon won the Barnala seat.

In Uttar Pradesh, SP managed to win two seats: Tej Pratap Singh won the Karhal seat while Naseem Solanki won the Sishamau seat.

West Bengal remained dominated by the Trinamool Congress winning six seats: Sangita Roy won the Sitai seat; Jayprakash Toppo won the Madarihat seat; Sanat Dey won the Naihati seat; Sk Rabiul Islam won the Haroa seat; Sujoy Hazra won Medinipur seat; and Falguni Singhababu won the Taldangra seat.

IANS