Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Trinamool Congress and BSP on Tuesday
scored spectacular victories in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh
Assembly by-elections that saw the rout of Left Front in its
bastions, while Congress snatched away the prestigious
Firozabad Lok Sabha seat from Samajwadi Party.
Of the 10 Assembly seats in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Kerala and Chhattisgarh, the Congress bagged eight. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got the remaining two.
The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was another major gainer from Saturday`s by-elections as it was poised to win eight of 11 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, where it put up a poor show in the May Lok Sabha election.
But the biggest story of this round of by-poll is the complete rout of the Left. Their worst fears have come true.
After the humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, the combine has now been completely routed in both of its bastions West Bengal and Kerala in the by-polls.
West Bengal reposes faith in Didi
Riding the winds of change, Trinamool
Congress and ally Congress bagged 8 of the 10 seats in
the Assembly by-polls in West Bengal, handing out another
humiliating defeat to Left Front major, CPI(M), which drew a
blank.
Trinamool Congress, which fielded candidates in seven
seats, made a clean sweep winning all of them. Congress, which
contested three, won only one when it retained Sujapur
assembly seat in Malda.
Even the red citadel of Belgachia East in the metropolis,
represented since 1977 by former Transport minister Subhas
Chakraborty, crumbled before a resurgent Trinamool Congress.
The party also set foot in North Bengal with Trinamool
candidate Khageswar Ray wresting the Rajgunj seat by 15,029
votes from CPI(M) which had fielded Dhanapati Ray.
The seven seats won by TC are Alipur, Serampore, Bongaon,
Egra, Contai South, Rajgunj and Belgachia East.
For the CPI(M)-led ruling Left Front, Forward Bloc`s
victory in the Congress stronghold of Goalpokhar was the only
consolation as all other partners including CPI-M lost.
Congress holds ground in Kerala
The Left was also routed in its other bastion of Kerala with Congress candidates managing to retain all three Assembly constituencies that went to polls.
In Kannur, former CPI-M Lok Sabha member AP Abdulla Kutty defeated MV Jayarajan of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) by over 12,000 votes.
In Ernakulam, Dominic Presentation defeated CPI-M`s PN Seenulal by more than 8,000 votes.
In Alappuzha, AA Shukur defeated G Krishnaprasad of the Communist Party of India (CPI) by over 5,000 votes.
Elephant on a roll in UP
Mayawati’s BSP has performed exceedingly well in the by-elections. The elephant was poised to win eight of 11 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, where it put up a poor show in the May Lok Sabha election.
What makes the win more significant is that BSP has won in known strongholds of Mulayam Singh`s Etawah and Bhartana.
However, the most shocking came from Ferozabad Lok Sabha by-polls. In a high-profile contest, Congress candidate and film star Raj Babbar trounced Dimple Yadav, daughter-in-law of party chief and former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, by a massive margin of over 85,000 votes. Raj Babbar had quit the Samajwadi Party to join the Congress.
Otherwise also, the Samajwadi Party and the BJP failed to take a lead anywhere in the state.
Other states
The by-election spoils were equally divided between the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Rajasthan, with each winning one seat in Rajasthan.
Basanti Meena of the Congress bagged the Salumber seat. She defeated Amrat Lal of the BJP by a margin of over 3,000 votes.
While the BJP`s Ramesh Chand was declared elected from Todabhim, defeating his nearest Congress rival Shivdayal Meena by 8,200 votes.
With this win, the Congress tally in the state Assembly has gone up to 102 and the BJP strength is now 79.
The Congress won both seats in Assam. Wajed Ali Choudhury won from South Salmara, defeating the Asom United Democratic Front (AUDF) candidate Abdur Rahman Ajmal. In Dhekiajuli, in northern Assam, Bhimananda Tanti defeated Asom Gana Parishad`s (AGP) Shib Charan Sahu.
Elections where also held in two seat in Himachal Pradesh. The Congress is leading from Jawali, while Rohru seems to be going BJP’s way.
After establishing an early lead, ruling BJP’s candidate Jageshwar Sahu was trounced by Bhajan Singh Nirankari of the Congress in the Vaishali Nagar Assembly seat in Bhilai, Durg district of Chhattisgarh.
