New Delhi: BJP Thursday made a clean sweep
of all the four Assembly seats where bypolls were held in
party-ruled Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and
Jharkhand while Trinamool Congress, with tacit support of the
saffron party, emerged triumphant in one seat in Manipur.
In Jharkhand, Chief Minister Arjun Munda (BJP) defeated
Congress and Babulal Marandi`s Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (P)
alliance candidate Dasrath Gagrai.
BJP wrested Kukshi seat in Madhya Pradesh from Congress
for the first time after 21 years with its nominee Mukam Singh
Kirade defeating rival Nisha Singhar by over 16,000 votes.
The party retained Gujarat`s Khadia seat, its bastion for
the last 25 years, when its candidate Bhushan Bhatt emerged
victorious defeating Congress` Jagat Shukla.
In Chhattisgarh, ruling BJP`s candidate Kumari Bai Sahu
won Sanjari Balod seat beating her nearest rival Mohan Patel
of Congress by nearly 9,500 votes.
The electoral battle in Manipur`s Konthoujam constituency
saw Trinamool Congress candidate K Sarat prevailing over
Congress candidate S Ranjan by 655 votes. The TC candidate had
the tacit support of BJP and Manipur People`s Party, a
regional outfit.
Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress is a constituent
of Congress-led UPA government at the Centre and is likely to
have an alliance with Congress in coming assembly polls in
West Bengal.
Congress sought to downplay its defeat saying local
factors decide results in such elections while BJP claimed it
was a "victory of its fight against corruption".
BJP is ruling in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and
Chhattisgarh while in Manipur there is a Congress-led
coalition government.
PTI
