Congress takes solace in bypoll wins after complete rout in Bihar elections

New Delhi: Ruling National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir and BJP in Rajasthan were in for a rude shock on Friday, as it lost bypolls even as Congress wrested two seats from its opponents in two states, providing some relief after a complete rout in Bihar.

For the BJP, the brighter prospects came from Odisha, where the results were a jolt to the BJD, as well as from Jammu and Kashmir. While ruling parties lost elsewhere, Congress in Telangana, AAP in Punjab and JMM in Jharkhand saw their candidates on the winning side.

Eight seats, including two in Jammu and Kashmir, went to bypolls on November 11 along with the second phase of Bihar Assembly elections.

In Jammu and Kashmir, the NC lost Budgam to Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP, a seat vacated by NC's Chief Minister Omar Abdullah while in Nagrota where BJP's Devyani Rana, whose father Devender Rana's death resulted in the bypoll, won, it was pushed to third place with Harsh Dev Singh of Panthers Party coming second.

The bypolls in the union territory had laid bare the troubles in the I.N.D.I.A bloc with the recent Rajya Sabha polls in the state adding to the tension. Congress had said it would not contest Nagrota, where NC ended up a distant third.

For the Congress, the silver lining was the victory in Anta in Rajasthan where it defeated the ruling BJP, whose MLA's disqualification had resulted in the bypoll. Congress' Pramod Jain Bhaya defeated BJP's Morpal Suman by a margin of 15,612 votes, riding on a united offensive by otherwise warring Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot and Govind Dotasra.

A former Congress leader Naresh Meena polled 53,800 votes, his third impressive performance in three elections despite losing.

Defeating BRS in its sitting seat of Jubilee Hills of Telangana was an icing on the cake for Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who managed to enlist the support of AIMIM. Congress' Naveen Yadav won by 24,729 votes against Maganti Sunitha Gopinath of BRS. BJP's Deepak Reddy Lankala was a distant third.

Amid the loss in Rajasthan, the brighter side for the BJP was Odisha's Nuapada where its candidate Jay Dholakia won by a whopping 83,748 votes defeating Congress' Ghasi Ram Majhi. The BJD ended a distant third after the seat fell vacant following the death of its MLA Rajesh Dholakia, whose son jumped ship to fight for BJP. The results also now raises the question of whether BJD continues to occupy the lead opposition space. 

Punjab brought cheers to the AAP camp with a decisive victory in Tarn Taran of Punjab where its candidate Harmeet Singh Sandhu, who contested on an Akali Dal ticket in 2022. Akali Dal maintained the second position while Congress was in fourth position.

JMM's Somesh Chandra Soren defeated BJP's Babulal Soren, son of Champai Soren who shifted from JMM to BJP. In Mizoram, ruling ZPM's Vanlalsailova lost to MNF's R Laltangliana while Congress came third followed by the BJP. In both seats, JMM and MNF had won last time.

Seat / Winner / Loser / Previous Winner

• Budgam / Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi (PDP) / Aga Syed Mahmood Al-Mosavi (NC) / NC

• Nagrota / Devyani Rana (PDP) / Harsh Dev Singh (Panthers Party) / BJP

• Ghatsila / Somesh Chandra Soren (JMM) / Babu Lal Soren (BJP) / JMM

• Dampa / R Lalthangliana (MNF) / Vanlalsailova (ZPM) / MNF

• Nuapada / Jay Dholakia (BJP) / Ghasi Ram Majhi / BJD

• Tarn Taran / Harmeet Singh Sandhu (AAP) / Sukhwinder Kaur (Akali Dal) / AAP

• Anta / Pramod Jain Bhaya (Cong) / Morpal Suman (BJP) / BJP

• Jubilee Hills / Naveen Yadav V (Cong) / Maganti Sunitha Gopinath (BRS)