More Stories

Informist, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024

NEW DELHI – After the setback it suffered in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, the Bharatiya Janata Party regained some ground in Uttar Pradesh by winning six of the nine seats for which by-elections were held Wednesday. The Rashtriya Lok Dal, an ally of the ruling party, won one seat. The opposition Samajwadi Party took the remaining two seats.

The by-elections were seen as a stern test for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after the BJP's tally of Lok Sabha seats from the state, which sends the largest contingent of 80 parliamentarians to the House, was almost halved to 33. Regaining ground in Uttar Pradesh was also seen as vital for the party as the state remains pivotal to its national electoral strategy.

In the Lok Sabha by-polls, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra won her maiden electoral contest by a massive margin of over 410,000 votes in Wayanad, Kerala. She polled over 622,000 votes. Polling took place in Wayanad on Nov. 13 and the voter turnout was around 65%, a decline from the turnout of nearly 74% recorded in the Lok Sabha polls in April when Rahul Gandhi won the seat for the second time.

The former Congress president had also won Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, and decided to retain the traditional seat of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Rahul's mother Sonia Gandhi had won the seat four times in a row since 2004.

Following Vadra's thumping victory, Rahul, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said he was proud the people of Wayanad had placed their trust in his sister. "I feel immense pride as my family in Wayanad has placed its trust in Priyanka," he wrote on microblogging site X. "I know she will lead with courage, compassion, and unwavering dedication to transform our cherished Wayanad into a beacon of progress and prosperity."

The Election Commission had announced by-polls for 48 assembly seats in 14 states and two Lok Sabha seats, including Nanded in Maharashtra, for various factors, including death, resignation, and disqualification of sitting members. The BJP was leading in the Nanded by-election by a narrow margin of 441 votes at the time of writing.

In Assam, the BJP won three of the five seats for which by-elections were held, while the United People’s Party (Liberal) and the Asom Gana Parishad shared the other two. The opposition Congress drew a blank.

The All India Trinamool Congress Party swept all six assembly seats in West Bengal for which by-polls were held. Likewise, the National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP swept the by-polls in Bihar, winning all four seats. The BJP also won the Raipur City South seat in Chhattisgarh, Vav in Gujarat, and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand.

In Karnataka, the Congress won all three assembly seats for which by-elections were held while in Kerala, the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) won one seat apiece. In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP and the Congress won one seat each. The by-election for a lone seat in Meghalaya was won by the ruling National People’s Party.

The BJP also won five of the seven seats for which by-polls were held in Rajasthan. The other two were shared by the Bharat Adivasi Party and the Congress. Of the four seats in Punjab for which by-elections were held, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party won three, while the Congress took the fourth. The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha had earlier won two seats in Sikkim unchallenged.  End

Reported by Kuldeep Singh

Edited by Rajeev Pai

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.

Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2024. All rights reserved.