After LS poll shock, bypoll blow for BJP

The outcome of the by-elections held on July 10 to 13 Assembly constituencies in various states confirms the trend set by the Lok Sabha elections held during April-June this year.

The stars of the INDIA bloc constituents continue to be ascendant while the fortunes of the Bharatiya Janata Party seem to have sagged further.

Of the 13 seats, the constituents of the INDIA bloc have won in 10 while the Bharatiya Janata Party could manage to win only two—one each in Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

Trinamool Congress has registered the most impressive victory in West Bengal by defeating the BJP in all the four seats for which polling was held. Of these, it wrested three from the BJP and retained the fourth one. And its victory margins over the rivals are large.

The four that the Congress garnered, two each have come from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The byelections have reconfirmed the supremacy of the Congress in the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly where the ruling party was seen on the brink of collapse due to defections engineered by the BJP a little while before the Lok Sabha elections.

Of the three Assembly seats for which byelections were held, the Congress bagged two while the third went to the BJP. The party had won four of the six seats for which byelections were held along with the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress has thus firmed its grip with 40 seats in the house of 68.

Conversely, the defectors have been taught a lesson The Dravida Munnetra Kazhgham which won in Vikravandi has shown that its sway continues in Tamil Nadu. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has retained the Jalandhar West constituency in Punjab.

It is a morale booster for the party which could win only 3 of the 13 seats in the Lok Sabha election. The lone seat in Bihar has been bagged by an independent who defeated the Janata Dal-United candidate.

Among the 13 seats where byelections were held, the BJP, Congress and TMC each held two, while one seat each was held by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Janata Dal (United), DMK, and AAP. Independents held the remaining three seats.

Though the INDIA bloc may take collective credit for the victories, they have all come in far flung constituencies spread across diverse states and owe the victory to the credibility and efforts of constituent units rather than the combine as a whole.

The bloc is yet to register its identity as a homogenous alliance bound with unity of purpose and programme. One cannot ignore the fact that the TMC’s victories have also led to loss of deposits for the Congress and the Left in West Bengal.

Not to miss the point that all the three are constituents of INDIA bloc nationally. Similarly, the AAP victory in West Jalandhar was not merely against the BJP, but also against the Congress candidate who was placed third. Notably even during the Lok Sabha elections, the two parties fought separately and against each other in the State.