Key takeaways from bypolls to 11 states

BJP leading is most states, Congress trails

Counting of votes for assembly and constituency by-elections is on in 58 seats across 11 states, including Bihar. Counting for the election, held on November 3, began at 8 am and progressed strictly in accordance with the Election Commission’s guidelines. Here are 10 key takeaways:

1. In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has so far won 12 seats on Tuesday out of the 28 assembly constituencies where bypolls were held in Madhya Pradesh, giving it enough numbers to achieve a majority in the House and provide stability to its government in the state, where it came to power in March.

On the other hand, the Congress, which lost power eight months ago following a revolt by a section of its MLAs, has bagged three seats so far. The BJP is leading in seven seats, while the Congress in ahead in five.

2. In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP retained six seats and the SP hung on to its Malhani constituency in the bypolls for seven assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, the 6:1 outcome indicating Tuesday that the ruling party continued its hold over the populous state.

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3. In Karnataka, the ruling BJP on Tuesday swept the bypolls to two assembly seats in Karnataka by wresting them from opposition Congress and JD(S). The outcome has given a boost to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa's stock amid talks about his replacement in some quarters.

It is seen as a setback for opposition leaders, especially Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar as it was the first election in the state under his stewardship.

With these victories, the strength of BJP will rise to 118 in the 225-member assembly that would still have two vacancies caused by, including by the recent death of a member. Congress has 67 members, JDS 33, BSP one, nominated one and two independents besides the Speaker.

In the Rajarajeshwari Nagar assembly segment, N Munirathna scored a hat-trick, winning by an impressive margin of more than 58,000 votes. In Sira, it was a history of sorts for the BJP as it recorded its first-ever victory there with its candidate Dr C M Rajesh Gowda securing the seat by a margin of over 13,400 votes.

4. In Manipur, BJP candidates won two seats while an Independent candidate bagged one in the by-election to four Manipur Assembly constituencies, the results of which were announced on Tuesday, officials said. BJP candidates Oinam Lukhoi Singh and Paonam Brojen Singh won the Wangoi seat and Wangjing Tentha seats respectively, they said.

5. In Nagaland, the BJP on Tuesday was set to sweep the assembly by-elections held last week with leads and wins in more than 40 of 59 seats across 11 states, including Madhya Pradesh where it was ahead in 19 of 28 constituencies, according to Election Commission trends.

6. In Chhattisgarh, Congress contestant is leading by a margin of 3,664 votes in Marwahi Assembly constituency

As per the early trends, Dr KK Dhruw of the Congress is leading by a margin of 3,664 votes against his nearest rival Dr Gambheer Singh of the BJP, he said.

The ruling Congress and main opposition BJP are locked in a direct fight in this seat where a bypoll was necessitated after Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) sitting MLA and former chief minister Ajit Jogi died on May 29.

7. In Odisha, the ruling BJD candidates have established early leads over their nearest BJP rivals in both Balasore and Tirtol assembly constituencies, where counting of votes polled in the by-elections, held last week, is in progress on Tuesday.

The deaths of Balasore's BJP MLA Madan Mohan Dutta and Tirtol's BJD legislator Bishnu Charan Das necessitated the by-elections which were held on November 3.

8. BJP candidates were leading in bypolls to Dumka and Bermo assembly seats in Jharkhand, early trends showed.

BJP candidate Lois Marandi was leading over his nearest rival Basant Soren of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) by over 7,938 votes in the Dumka seat.

9. In Telangana, BJP candidate M Raghunandan Rao was leading over his nearest TRS rival Solipeta Sujatha by 2,485 votes after seven rounds.

The counting of votes began at 8 AM and is expected to be done in 23 rounds. The bypoll held on November 3 has been necessitated due to the death of sitting TRS MLA Solipeta Ramalinga Reddy in August this year. The main contest is among the ruling TRS, BJP and Congress.

10. In Haryana, Congress candidate Indu Raj Narwal is leading over his nearest rival and BJP nominee Yogeshwar Dutt by a margin 1,021 votes from the Baroda Assembly seat in Haryana, as per initial trends.

There will be 20 rounds of counting. The polling on November 3 for the Baroda assembly seat had recorded an overall turnout of 68.57 per cent, sealing the fate of 14 candidates.

11. The ruling BJP in Gujarat is leading in all the eight seats, while Congress was trailing behind.

The bypolls were necessitated after sitting Congress MLAs resigned ahead of Rajya Sabha polls in June this year. Five of them then joined the ruling BJP, which fielded them from the same seats they had won in the 2017 elections. A total of 81 candidates contested the bypolls to eight seats on November 3, for which a voter turnout of 60.75 per cent was recorded.

(With inputs from agencies)