Byelections bring some respite to BJP fortunes
Even as the BJP reeled under the impact of the Goa verdict, the results of bypolls held in the states of Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh gave it something to cling on to.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: Even as the BJP reeled under the impact of the Goa verdict, the results of bypolls held in the states of Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh gave it something to cling on to. In Chhattisgarh, the party wrested the Khairagarh assembly seat from the Congress and Malkharoda from the BSP, taking the BJP’s tally in the 90-member assembly to 52.
The bypoll results in Chhatisgarh marks a reversal of fortunes for the BJP. It had ceded the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat to the Congress’ Dev Wrath Singh earlier this year, and was unable to snatch the Kota assembly constituency from the principal opposition party in a by-election held late last year. The seat was bagged by former chief minister Ajit Jogi’s wife.
The by-election to the Khairagarh assembly seat was necessitated by the elevation of the Congress’ Dev Wrath Singh to the Lok Sabha. It, in a way, marked a sweet revenge for the BJP. The victories in the two by-elections should come as a morale-booster to the BJP and its chief minister Raman Singh as they gear up for the assembly polls to be held late next year. The prospects of a leadership change in the state seem to have receded considerably.
The BJP also sounded a note of warning to the Congress in Himachal Pradesh, which faces assembly polls in another eight months, by retaining the Hamirpur Lok Sabha. Former chief minister P K Dhumal not only managed to stave off the Congress challenge, but did it handsomely. He won the seat by a massive margin of over 80,000 votes. The BJP had somehow managed to cling on to the seat in the 2004 general election, winning it by a mere 1625 votes.
A poor selection of candidates saw the BJP handing over the Shivpuri assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh to the Congress, while its failure to hammer out a seat-sharing pact with its alliance partner, the JD(S), meant that the Congress retained the Ullal assembly seat in Karnataka without much trouble.
The party had to pay a heavy price for foisting a Congressman on its workers in Shivpuri. The BJP’s decision to field Ganesh Gautam, who had been defeated by Ms Yashodhraraje Scindia in the 2003 assembly election, from the seat upset the party workers. It also left Ms Scindia sulking. Former chief minister Uma Bharti sought to take advantage of the situation by fielding a candidate of her own. Mr Narendra Birthare may have polled just 10,438 votes, but that was enough to ensure the BJP candidate’s defeat by 7,781 votes.
In Daltonganj, former Jharkhand speaker Inder Singh Namdhari gave a lesson in election management when he overcame the opposition from his erstwhile party colleagues in the JD(U) to retain the seat as an independent. He defeated his nearest All Jharkhand Students Union rival Anil Kumar Chowrasia by 10,191 votes. The JD(U) candidate, who was also backed by the BJP, was relegated to the third spot. The seat had fallen vacant in the wake of Mr Namdhari’s resignation following a rift with the state JD(U) leadership.
For the Congress, there was some good news from the north-eastern state of Manipur, where it wrested the Khundrakpam assembly segment from the NCP, and retained Khangabok. It took the party’s tally in the 60-member assembly to 31, giving it a majority of its own. The alliance led by it, the Secular Progressive Front, now has 35 members in the house.
The bypoll results in Chhatisgarh marks a reversal of fortunes for the BJP. It had ceded the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat to the Congress’ Dev Wrath Singh earlier this year, and was unable to snatch the Kota assembly constituency from the principal opposition party in a by-election held late last year. The seat was bagged by former chief minister Ajit Jogi’s wife.
The by-election to the Khairagarh assembly seat was necessitated by the elevation of the Congress’ Dev Wrath Singh to the Lok Sabha. It, in a way, marked a sweet revenge for the BJP. The victories in the two by-elections should come as a morale-booster to the BJP and its chief minister Raman Singh as they gear up for the assembly polls to be held late next year. The prospects of a leadership change in the state seem to have receded considerably.
The BJP also sounded a note of warning to the Congress in Himachal Pradesh, which faces assembly polls in another eight months, by retaining the Hamirpur Lok Sabha. Former chief minister P K Dhumal not only managed to stave off the Congress challenge, but did it handsomely. He won the seat by a massive margin of over 80,000 votes. The BJP had somehow managed to cling on to the seat in the 2004 general election, winning it by a mere 1625 votes.
A poor selection of candidates saw the BJP handing over the Shivpuri assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh to the Congress, while its failure to hammer out a seat-sharing pact with its alliance partner, the JD(S), meant that the Congress retained the Ullal assembly seat in Karnataka without much trouble.
The party had to pay a heavy price for foisting a Congressman on its workers in Shivpuri. The BJP’s decision to field Ganesh Gautam, who had been defeated by Ms Yashodhraraje Scindia in the 2003 assembly election, from the seat upset the party workers. It also left Ms Scindia sulking. Former chief minister Uma Bharti sought to take advantage of the situation by fielding a candidate of her own. Mr Narendra Birthare may have polled just 10,438 votes, but that was enough to ensure the BJP candidate’s defeat by 7,781 votes.
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In Daltonganj, former Jharkhand speaker Inder Singh Namdhari gave a lesson in election management when he overcame the opposition from his erstwhile party colleagues in the JD(U) to retain the seat as an independent. He defeated his nearest All Jharkhand Students Union rival Anil Kumar Chowrasia by 10,191 votes. The JD(U) candidate, who was also backed by the BJP, was relegated to the third spot. The seat had fallen vacant in the wake of Mr Namdhari’s resignation following a rift with the state JD(U) leadership.
For the Congress, there was some good news from the north-eastern state of Manipur, where it wrested the Khundrakpam assembly segment from the NCP, and retained Khangabok. It took the party’s tally in the 60-member assembly to 31, giving it a majority of its own. The alliance led by it, the Secular Progressive Front, now has 35 members in the house.
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