Bypoll Results 2018: BJP set to lose crucial Kairana, ally JDU faces defeat in Bihar
In Kairana, where the Opposition united against the BJP, RLD’s Tabassum Hasan, who is backed by the SP, BSP and the Congress, is all set to wrest the seat with a wide margin. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna) In Kairana, where the Opposition united against the BJP, RLD’s Tabassum Hasan, who is backed by the SP, BSP and the Congress, is all set to wrest the seat with a wide margin. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)
It is bad news for the BJP in the last round of Lok Sabha bypolls before the 2019 General Election.
In the bye-elections in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Kerala, and Uttarakhand, the ruling party at the Centre, which has been on a winning spree in the assembly elections, has little to be happy about this time around, trends so far indicate. In Kairana, where the Opposition united against the BJP, RLD’s Tabassum Hasan, who is backed by the SP, BSP and the Congress, is all set to wrest the seat with a wide margin. The saffron party has, however, won Maharashtra’s Palghar Lok Sabha seat.
Although BJP president Amit Shah has stated that the bypolls cannot be seen as a test on the popularity or strength of the BJP, a loss in Kairana will be an embarrassment for both Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and for the national leadership. Earlier this year, the SP, BSP and the Congress came together to win bypolls to the BJP bastions of Gorakhpur and Phulpur earlier this year.
According to the latest trends, the BJP candidate is trailing in Bhandara Gondiya (Maharashtra), a sitting seat for the party. Its ally Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party is, however, leading in Nagaland. The only good news for the BJP, so far, is in West Bengal, where it is at the second position with the ruling Trinamool Congress ensuring the CPI-M-led Left’s fall in the violence-hit political scene in the state. The CPI-M candidate has, meanwhile, won Kerala’s Chengannur, pushing the BJP into a third position.
BJP’s ally JD-U led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has faced an embarrassing defeat in Jokihat assembly seat in Bihar where the RJD candidate has won by a 40,000 margin. The assembly bypolls has brought good news for the Congress in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Meghalaya.
Read | Bye-election Results 2018: 10 things to know
Despite the brave face, the BJP leaders are putting up, the party’s performance in the bye-elections would certainly be an embarrassment for the party as it prepares for the tough battles in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, where also the Opposition may unite to defeat the BJP and the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. “Although these elections were not a popularity test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the trends indicate that the party and its governments would have to face an intense anti-incumbency factor in the upcoming elections. The spiraling prices of petrol have added fuel to the anger and disappointment among the people. The party has to tread cautiously,” said a senior BJP leader.
Read | Assembly Bypoll Results 2018: Full list of winners
In the February bye-elections, the BJP had lost Alwar and Ajmer Lok Sabha seats and one assembly seat in the Rajasthan. It also came a distant second to TMC in one Lok Sabha and one assembly seat in West Bengal.
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