JOIN USRuling parties BJP in Goa, AAP in Delhi and TDP in Andhra Pradesh, on Monday won all the four Assembly seats that went to bypolls, bringing huge relief to the respective chief ministers of these states.
In Goa, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar himself was a winner-contestant, while the BJP also ensured the victory of Vishwajeet Rane, who quit to join the saffron party soon after winning on a Congress ticket earlier this year.
The AAP tasted victory in Bawana bypoll after a series of electoral setbacks that put a question mark on the popularity of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
TDP’s Bhuma Brahmananda Reddy, a political greenhorn, overcame the YSR Congress’ tough challenge to add another feather to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s cap.
Parrikar, who had returned to Goa after resigning as Defence Minister, was elected from Panaji defeating Congress’ Girish Chodankar by 4,803 votes.
BJP’s Sidharth Kuncolienkar had won the seat in 2014 bypoll and also in the 2017 election, but stepped down to make way for Parrikar’s election from Panaji, which the chief minister represented from 1994 to November 2014.
Rane retained Valpoi seat defeating his Congress opponent Roy Naik by 10,087 votes, taking the saffron party’s tally in the 40-member House to 14.
In Delhi, AAP managed to retain the seat, which fell vacant after its MLA Ved Prakash switched sides to join BJP. It was revenge for AAP as its candidate Ram Chander trounced Prakash by a margin of 24,052 votes.
Congress’ Surender Kumar, a three-time MLA, finished third though the party sought to find solace in doubling its votes from around 14,000 to 31,919 votes.