Bypolls: BJP hails performance, regional parties draw confidence

New Delhi: With the BJP and regional parties scoring victories in the bypolls to seven assembly constituencies in six states, both sides drew positives from their performances as they head towards the 2024 general elections.

The BJP won in four out of seven assembly constituencies in six states, retaining the three seats it held, in the by-election results declared on Sunday, while the TRS, RJD and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) won one each. The Congress, which lost two seats, was in reckoning only in Haryana's Adampur and fared badly in the other seats it contested.

The BJP said the result of the November 3 by-elections was a stamp of approval by people on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policies as it retained Gola Gokarannath in Uttar Pradesh, Dhamnagar in Odisha and Gopalganj in Bihar where it had fielded the kin of its party MLAs whose death necessitated the polls.

BJP candidate and former chief minister Bhajan Lal's grandson Bhavya Bishnoi defeated his nearest rival and Congress nominee Jai Prakash in Haryana's Adampur by a margin of around 16,000 votes, maintaining the family's winning streak.

BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya hailed the party's performance, saying it continues to win big in bypolls.

"BJP's Smt Kusum Devi wins Gopalganj in Bihar against Nitish Kumar-Lalu Prasad 'Mahagathbandhan'. Shri Aman Giri wins Gol Gorakhnath in UP. Shri Bhavya Bishnoi wins Adampur in Haryana. AAP loses deposit. Congress is on Yatra…," he said in a tweet.

The RJD hailed the party's win in Mokama while the party's Gopalganj Twitter handle thanked the voters for "reposing" faith in Tejashwi Yadav.

"Even though we have lost this election by a very small margin, we will continue to be in your service," it said.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said the decrease in the BJP's victory margin was a "success" for them and their alliance will win in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Another Twitter handle of the RJD's unit in Siwan took a swipe at parties such as the AIMIM, saying the B-teams of the BJP have been exposed.

In Gopalganj, the RJD lost by less than 2,000 votes. Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM and Mayawati's BSP together polled votes ten times the victory margin.

Bihar Congress spokesperson Asit Tiwari accused Owaisi of helping the BJP win.

"Despite all the opposition forces coming together, the people have put their stamp on the development-oriented leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji. It is clear from this that the faith of the people of Bihar is with the BJP," party chief J P Nadda said.

He said the victory in Gola Gokarannath and Adampur reflects the public support for the double-engine BJP governments.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh of using illegal means to win and said it had defeated democracy. By securing over 90,000 votes, the SP candidate has challenged the BJP, he said.

Reacting to the win in Andheri (East), where the BJP and other major parties did not field candidates, Uddhav Thackeray said the victory showed that people were supporting his Shiv Sena.

"This is just the beginning of a fight. The (party) symbol is important but people look for the character too. The bypoll results show people support us," Thackeray told reporters at his residence.

This was the first electoral contest in Maharashtra after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government collapsed in June following a revolt by a section of Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde.

"Our party's name and symbol were frozen for this election, but those who wanted this are nowhere near the electoral ring," Thackeray said in a veiled swipe at the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

The second-highest number of votes (14.79 per cent) went to the None Of The Above (NOTA) option in the constituency.

Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said, "Congratulations Rutuja Latke ji! The @ShivSena's Mashaal has registered a Vishaal victory in the Andheri East bypoll." "So, the NOTA votes strategy that Khota+Khoka sarkar tried has failed & now left with egg on their faces," she said taking a swipe at the BJP-Eknath Shinde combine.

TRS (now renamed Bharat Rashtra Samithi) candidate Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy defeated his nearest BJP rival Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy in Munugode by over 10,000 votes in a keenly-fought contest, while Congress nominee Palvai Sravanthi was a distant third.

Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy had sought re-election on a BJP ticket after quitting the Congress.

''Thanks to the people of Munugodu for reposing faith in TRS party & Hon'ble CM KCR's leadership. ''As promised, will adopt the constituency and work towards expeditious progress of pending works,'' state minister and KCR's son K T Rama Rao tweeted.