Bypolls May 2018: United Opposition Fares Over BJP

The bypolls results of four Lok Sabha and eleven assembly constituencies declared today (May 31) have come as a setback to the ruling BJP party, as its candidates lost to opposition parties in the two Lok Sabha seats earlier held by the saffron party. With these results, the BJP’s tally in Lok Sabha has been reduced from 282 in May 2014 to 273.

Congress registered victory in four assembly seats – Maharashtra’s Palus Kadegaon, Meghalaya’s Ampati, Karnataka’s Rajarajeshwari Nagar and Punjab’s Shahkot and its ally NCP won in Maharashtra’s Bhandara-Gondiya Lok Sabha seat. In Uttar Pradesh’s Kairana Lok Sabha and Noorpur assembly constituencies (earlier held by the BJP), united opposition parties defeated the ruling BJP.

BJP retained Maharashtra’s Palghar Lok Sabha seat and its ally NDPP won in Nagaland Lok Sabha constituency.

Karnataka

In Karnataka’s Rajarajeshwari Nagar (RR Nagar) assembly constituency, where the election was delayed by the Election Commission over malpractice and held on May 28, the Congress candidate Muniratna emerged victorious with a margin of over 41000 votes over BJP’s Tulsi Muniraju Gowda.

Uttar Pradesh

After defeating the ruling party BJP in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats (earlier held by the BJP) in the by-elections held this march, the united opposition parties – Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Congress and RLD have again emerged victorious against the BJP in Kairana Lok Sabha and Noorpur assembly seats.

In Kairana, RLD’s Tabassum Hasan defeated BJP's Mriganka Singh with a margin of over 50,000 votes.

In Noorpur Assembly constituency, SP candidate Naeemul Hasan defeated his BJP rival Avni Singh and won by 6,211 votes.

Maharashtra

In Bhandara-Gondiya Lok Sabha seat, Congress backed NCP candidate Madhukar Kukde defeated BJP’s Hemant Patle by over 48,000 votes. The elections were necessitated as BJP’s sitting MP Nana Patole, submitted his resignation in December 2017, who quit the BJP and joined Congress.

BJP retained Palghar Lok Sabha constituency. BJP's Rajendra Gavit won with a margin of 29572 votes defeating Shiv Sena’s Shriniwas Wanaga.

Congress’ Vishwajeet Patangrao Kadam retained Palus Kadegaon assembly seat, who was elected unopposed today. The seat fell vacant after the death of Congress MLA Patangrao Kadam.

Nagaland

NDPP won in Nagaland Lok Sabha seat defeating NPF by a margin of over 1.50 lakh votes. BJP’s ally NDPP candidate Tokheho Yepthomi emerged victorious against NPF’s C Apok Jamir.

Kerala

CPI(M) retained the Chengannur seat the party had won in the 2016 Assembly election. CPI(M) candidate Saji Cheriyan won with a margin of over 20000 votes against Congress and BJP. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of sitting MLA KK Ramachandran Nair of the CPI(M) in January this year.

Uttarkhand

BJP candidate Munni Devi Shah retained the Tharali assembly seat with a margin of over 1,990 votes defeating Congress’ Jeetram. The bypoll for Tharali was necessitated due to the death of BJP lawmaker Magan Lal Shah earlier this year.

West Bengal

TMC candidate Dulal Das retained Maheshtala assembly seat defeating BJP’s Sujit Kumar Ghosh by 62,827 votes. The Maheshtala seat became vacant after the death of TMC’s MLA Kasturi Das in February this year.

Jharkhand

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has won both assembly seats in the state, Gomia and Silli retaining the seats it earlier held. The Gomia seat has been won by Babita Devi defeated AJSU nominee Lambodar Mahto by 1344 votes. In Silli, Seema Mahto defeated AJSU chief and former state Deputy Chief Minister Sudesh Mahto by 13,000 votes.

The elections were neccesiated after the disqualification of JMM’s two MLAs Yogendra Mahto and Amit Mahto from Gomia and Silli seats respectively.

Punjab

Congress’s Hardev Singh Laddi won Shahkot Assembly seat defeating Shiromani Akali Dal nominee Naib Singh Kohar by over 38,000 votes. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of Akali Dal MLA Ajit Singh Kohar in February this year.

Bihar

The RJD’s Shahnawaz Alam has won the Jokihat Assembly bypoll by over 4,000 votes, defeating the JD(U)'s Murshid Alam. The byelection was necessitated because Sarfaraz Alam, the sitting JD(U) MLA, quit his party after JD(U) allied with the BJP and joined the RJD.

Meghalaya

Congress’ Miani D Shira, the daughter of former chief minister Mukul Sangma, won Ampati constituency defeating its rival NPP's Clement Momin by 3191 votes. With this victory, Congress emerged as the single largest party increasing its tally to 21 out of 60 assembly seats in the state.