Congress loses deposit in 8 Assembly seats, 1 LS seat; BJP forfeits deposit in 7 Assembly seats

Congress lost deposit in eight Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha constituency in the latest edition of bypolls while BJP forfeited it in seven Assembly seats as both the parties could not win the confidence of at least one-sixth of the voters who exercised their franchise in these places.

One of the worst defeats in this edition of bypolls for BJP was in Himachal Pradesh's Jubak Kotkhai where it could win only 2,644 votes (4.67% votes) and lost deposit. The main reason for its dismal performance was the rebel Chetan Singh Bragta, son of former minister Narinder Bragta and BJP Himachal IT cell head who entered the electoral fray as a BJP rebel after being denied ticket.

Vallabhnagar in Rajasthan was another sitting seat where the BJP lost deposit after being pushed to fourth position. It could gather the support of only 21,433 voters (11.71%) as former BJP MLA M Randhir Singh Bhindar contested as an independent MLA and won 43,817 votes (23.94%).

Former BJP ally RLP came second with 45,107 votes (24.65%) behind the winning Congress.

Also read: With bypoll results, alarm bells ring for BJP in hill states

A tribal youth Thawarchand, who contested as an independent and polled 51,094 votes, pushed BJP (46,487) to the third position in Dhariawad though both managed to save their deposit. However, Congress (69,819 votes) won the BJP sitting seat.

Congress and BJP lost deposit in Andhra Pradesh's Badvel seat where the ruling YSR Congress grabbed 76.25% of the votes polled while Congress managed only 4.24% or 6,235 votes while the saffron party got 21,678 votes (14.73%) and both lost deposit. In neighbouring Telangana's Huzurabad where BJP had an upset victory over ruling TRS, Congress could poll only 2905 votes (1.48%).

BJP now appears to have dislodged the Congress as the main Opposition in both the states where the latter had a substantial presence.

Adding more woes, the Congress lost its deposit in Tamalpur (7763 votes or 5.34%) and Thowra (5,892 votes or 6.65%) in Assam, which it won in the March-April polls this year while it also lost deposit in Dadra and Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha constituency.

Also Read | Congress upbeat about bypoll results, says it still has in it to take on BJP

Kusheshwar Asthan in Bihar was one seat for which Congress fought with its ally but once the polling was over, the Grand Old Party's standing was diminished as it could get only 5,603 votes (4.28%) while the winner JD(U) polled 59,887 votes (45.72%) and runner-up RJD garnered 47,192 votes (36.02%). In Tarapur where RJD lost to JD(U), Congress polled just 3,590 votes (2.12%).

INLD's Abhay Chautala won Ellenabad in Haryana but Congress performance there was below par again garnering just 3,590 votes (2.12%).

Congress also lost deposit in West Bengal's Santipur, the only seat it contested among the four that went to bypolls, as it could manage only 2877 votes (1.41% ). Incidentally, Santipur is the only seat in Bengal where the BJP managed to save its deposit as it managed 47,412 votes (23.22%) against Trinamool Congress' 1,12,087 votes (54.89%).

Santipur also saw CPI(M) grabbing 39958 votes (19.57%) securing its deposit while the party also garnered 10.39% votes in Khardaha but lost its deposit. BJP lost deposits in Dinhata (11.31% votes), Gosaba (9.95%) and Khardaha (13.07%).

JD(S) lost deposits in Karnataka's Sindagi, its sitting seat where it managed just 4,353 votes (2.66%), and Hangal 967 votes (4.67%). It also fought the election Deglu in Maharashtra where it forfeited its deposit by securing only 467 votes (0.24%).

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