Chidambaram says by-poll results no real victory for BJP

NEW DELHI: Congress leader P Chidambaram today said there was no real victory for the BJP in the recent by-polls as it could win just five out of 10 seats and lost one to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh.

A day after the results to the by-polls were announced, the former finance minister wrote on Twitter, "10 by elections, BJP wins 5, non-BJP parties win 5. Are not the honours even? (sic)"

"The real headline of the day is 'BJP loses ATER seat in MP to Congress'," he wrote.

The BJP had won half of the 10 Assembly seats in the by- polls in seven states and in Delhi. The Congress bagged three and the TMC and the JMM one each with all but two of the seats being retained.

Of the five seats won by the BJP, the party retained three while it wrested two-- Delhi's Rajouri Garden from the AAP, and Rajasthan's Dholpur from the BSP.

It retained Bandhavgarh seat (Madhya Pradesh), Bhoranj(SC reserved in Himachal Pradesh), and Dhemaji (Assam).

Maintaining its hold, the ruling Congress in Karnataka retained the Nanjangud and Gundlupet Assembly seats in which the party and the BJP had played for high stakes.

It also retained the Ater seat in Bhind district of MP by a close margin of 857 votes.

The TMC kept the Kanthi Dakshin seat in West Bengal where the BJP finished second while the JMM retained Littipara (ST) Assembly seat in Jharkhand defeating ruling BJP.