Parties of the INDIA bloc have secured ten wins in assembly seats and the BJP has clinched two and an Independent has emerged victorious in one seat as vote counting ended on Saturday for the by-elections held earlier this week, as per trends on the election commission website.
Bypolls for 13 assembly seats were held in Punjab (1), Himachal Pradesh (3), Uttarakhand (2), West Bengal (4), Madhya Pradesh (1), Bihar (1) and Tamil Nadu (1) on Wednesday. The Congress, TMC, AAP and DMK are among the INDIA bloc parties that fielded candidates in the bypolls.
Mohinder Bhagat of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) emerged victorious in Punjab by defeating BJP’s Sheetal Angural. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) Anniyur Siva defeated PMK’s Anbumani C in Tamil Nadu’s Vikravandi assembly seat. The Trinamool Congress on Saturday wrested Raiganj, Bagda, Maniktala and Ranaghat Dakshin assembly seats from the BJP in West Bengal bypolls.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s wife and Congress candidate Kamlesh Thakur defeated BJP’s Hoshiyar Singh. In Nalagarh, Congress’ Hardeep Singh Bawa won against BJP’s KL Thakur. The BJP won the Hamirpur seat with its candidate Ashish Sharma defeating Congress’ Pushpinder Verma.
The Congress’ candidates for Uttarakhand’s Badrinath and Manglaur bypolls — Lakhpat Singh Butola and Qazi Nizamuddin have also secured victories.
BJP’s Kamlesh Pratap Shahi defeated Congress’ Dheeran Shah Invati in Madhya Pradesh’s Amarwar. Independent candidate Shankar Singh defeated JD(U)’s Kaladhar Prasad Mandal in Bihar’s Rupauli.
BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya in a lengthy post on social media said the ‘results show nothing except I.N.D.I Alliance’s desperation to somehow feel good’.
I.N.D.I Alliance is celebrating by-poll wins? For what joy?
Bengal (4) – The elections were completely rigged. There was no semblance of free and fair poll. On some seats Congress contested against the TMC. Does it look like I.N.D.I Alliance's win or TMC intimidating voters and…
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) July 13, 2024
“I.N.D.I Alliance is celebrating by-poll wins? For what joy?” Malviya questioned.
Chouhan told workers to prepare for by-elections that are to be held in five seats.
#WATCH | Jaipur: Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan says, "…It is not the time to sit in peace, 5 By-elections are scheduled to be held…Go to every village and spread the mantra of awakening, bring the work of the government to the grassroots and also spread your thoughts… pic.twitter.com/RQX1ElTIDL
— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2024
“It is not the time to sit in peace. Go to every village and spread the mantra of awakening, bring the work of the government to the grassroots and also spread your thoughts,” Chouhan said.
“Three out of four seats were of BJP which have now been won by TMC,” the West Bengal chief minister said.
#WATCH | On the by-elections in West Bengal, CM Mamata Banerjee says, "Three out of four seats were of BJP which have now been won by TMC… This victory is the victory of the people and I thank the people, we will dedicate this victory on July 21st…" pic.twitter.com/l15DpRRbAJ
— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2024
“This victory is the victory of the people and I thank the people,” she further added.
“Nitish Kumar’s cabinet did this work as part of a big conspiracy to defeat the extremely backward caste seat,” Pappu Yadav said.
#WATCH | Patna, Bihar: On the victory of independent candidate Shankar Singh from the Rupauli seat, Independent MP Pappu Yadav says, "…Nitish Kumar's cabinet did this work as part of a big conspiracy to defeat the extremely backward caste seat…BJP's hardcore voters did not… pic.twitter.com/cljP0KDlyr
— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2024
“BJP’s hardcore voters did not give a single vote to JDU,” he further added.
Congress and TMC won four seats each while DMK and AAP won one seat each, giving INDIA Bloc parties 10 wins in 13 assembly constituency bypoll contests. BJP has won two seats and an independent candidate has clinched one seat.
Supti Pandey defeated Kalyan Chaubey of the BJP, who is also All India Football Federation (AIFF) president.
As per ECI website, Shankar Singh has defeated JD(U)’s Kaladhar Prasad Mandal.
𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐀 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐲-𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬! pic.twitter.com/IQqmjnqpHz
— Congress (@INCIndia) July 13, 2024
“We bow before the public for the positive result of the assembly by-election. My heartfelt thanks and gratitude to them for wherever they voted for the Congress Party candidates,” the Congress party chief, Kharge, said.
“We have won two by-elections in Himachal out of three. Now congress strength is back to 40 again in a house of 68 . It will provide stability to our government,” Shukla, Congress Upper House MP, said.
The Trinamool Congress on Saturday wrested Raiganj, Bagda and Ranaghat Dakshin assembly seats from the BJP, continuing its winning streak a month after the party’s resounding victory in the Lok Sabha elections.
“We were confident of winning by-elections as anger among the electorate against the Independent MLAs was discernible after they resigned and joined the BJP. The general public was asking why they resigned when voters had elected them, defeating both the Congress and the BJP,” Himachal Pradesh Congress president Pratibha Singh said.
She said this was the reason her party won the the Dehra and Nalagarh bypolls on Saturday.
Veteran Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the results of the assembly elections in Uttarakhand “reflect the changing political climate in the country”.
उत्तराखंड में दोनों विधानसभा उपचुनाव भारतीय राष्ट्रीय कांग्रेस ने जीते हैं।
भाजपा की घटिया चालों का सामना करते हुए मंगलौर को बसपा से छीना गया। बद्रीनाथ में मौजूदा विधायक कांग्रेस के थे, जो लोकसभा चुनाव के दौरान भाजपा में शामिल हो गए थे। जनता ने उन्हें सही सजा दी है और कांग्रेस… pic.twitter.com/pSlqn6vnmW
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) July 13, 2024
He also lashed out at an ex-Congress leader who lost after switching to the BJP during the LS Polls.
DMK’s Anniyur Siva won by a margin of 67,757 votes defeating NDA constituent Pattali Makkal Katchi’s nominee C Anbumani. The by-election was necessitated due to the death of DMK legislator N Pugazhenthi in April this year.
Congress candidate Lakhapat Singh Butola won the Badrinath Assembly seat in the by-elections. ” “I want to thank the people of Badrinath…The credit for this goes to all those who directly and indirectly supported me in this fight for justice,” Butola said after his victory.
BJP candidate Kamlesh Pratap Shah wins the Amarwada assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh, narrowly defeating Congress’ Dheeran Shah Inavati by a margin of 3,252 votes.
#WATCH | Shimla, Himachal Pradesh: On Congress candidates winning bypolls in Dehra and Nalagarh seats, Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh says, ” This is the people’s mandate that the BJP did not respect the votes they gave in the 2022 elections. The way they were toppling the… pic.twitter.com/JpK75GSlZ4
— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2024
VIDEO | Himachal Pradesh CM's wife Kamlesh Thakur holds a roadshow in Shimla after winning the Dehra assembly seat.
The Congress won the Dehra Assembly seat for the first time on Saturday defeating BJP candidate Hoshiyar Singh by a margin of 9,399 votes.
(Full video available… pic.twitter.com/eZSCErhTlz
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 13, 2024
Congress’ Hardeep Singh Bawa defeated his nearest rival and BJP candidate K L Thakur in the bypoll to the Nalagarh assembly seat in Himachal Pradesh by 8,990 votes, officials said on Saturday.
Bawa, a five-time president of the Indian National Trade Union Congress’ Himachal Pradesh unit, polled 34,608 votes.