Bypoll results 'totally negated' BJP's Modi-wave claim: Cong

Buyoyed by the 6-4 victory of RJD-JD(U)-Congress alliance in Bihar, Congress today said the results have "totally negated" BJP's claim of Narendra Modi wave in the country.

"Though there are different factors in Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. BJP was trying to project that the entire country has become 'Modi-fied' (a coinage for Modi wave) and that votes will be cast in the entire country in the name of Modi even in Assembly and Panchayat polls.

"Through the election results of today, people of the country have negated the 'Modi Nam Kevalam' (Only Modi) chant of BJP and the attempt to create a false wave in that name," party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said at the AICC briefing.

He also referred to 3:0 victory of Congress against BJP in Uttarakhand Assembly bye-elections some time back and the victory of Congress in nine of the 11 Zila Parishad Chairman elections in the hilly state as examples in this direction. "The results are a bit positive for anti-BJP parties," he said.

Another senior party functionary, speaking on the condition of anonymity, felt the results are because of non- fragmentation of the "secular votes" in the state and lauded the "magnanimity" of former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who buried his antipathy towards Lalu Prasad to challenge a resurgent BJP. The leader felt that Bihar Assembly elections will see similar results.

Three months after its spectacular showing in Lok Sabha polls, BJP today received a jolt in assembly bye-elections, suffering a 4-6 defeat at the hands of the RJD-JD(U)-Congress alliance in Bihar and yielding two strongholds to Congress in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.

In Punjab, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress won one seat each. Out of the 18 seats in four states for which bypolls were held on August 21, Congress and its allies won 10 while seven went to BJP and one to its ally SAD.