Ruling party candidates win bypolls in Maharashtra, Uttarakhand

NEW DELHI: Riding on a sympathy wave, women candidates of ruling Shiv Sena and Congress and opposition NCP today won Assembly by-elections in Uttarakhand and Maharashtra where Congress heavyweight Narayan Rane lost badly in Bandra east seat in Mumbai, his second defeat in six months.

In Punjab, the ruling SAD wrested the Dhuri seat from Congress by a handsome margin with its candidate Gobind Singh Longowal drubbing Simar Partap Singh, a political greenhorn and grandson of former Governor and Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala.

63-year-old Rane, a former chief minister who had lost from his home turf Kankavali in coastal Konkan region in last October elections, was defeated by Shiv Sena's Trupti Sawant today by 52,711 votes. Trupti's husband Bala Sawant had died, necessitating the by-election.

Reacting to the result, Rane said he had put up a good fight on the issue of development but people have voted on the basis of emotions. "Victory or defeat is part of elections."

In the other by-election in the state, NCP nominee and late R R Patil's wife Sumantai Patil won in Tasgaon-Kavathe Mahankal Assembly constituency of Sangli district by over 1.12 lakh votes. NCP retained the seat which became vacant following the death of RR Patil. No major party had put up candidate against her.

It was the first electoral test for the BJP-Shiv Sena combine which formed the government after contesting the polls as rivals last year. Despite strains in their ties over a host of issues, BJP and Sena projected a united front to fight the Congress.