NEW DELHI, Nov 24: Ruling parties held sway in most of the 13 states in the assembly byelection results declared on Saturday, with the BJP and its allies wresting seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan and the Trinamool Congress sweeping West Bengal (WB).
Out of the 46 seats where byelections were held, the BJP and its allies won 26, a gain of nine seats, followed by Congress with seven -- a loss of six seats. The Trinamool Congress won six, the Aam Aadmi Party three and the Samajwadi Party two seats. The LDF in Kerala and BAP in Rajasthan got one each.
Apart from this, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) won two seats in Sikkim unopposed. In the by-polls to two Lok Sabha constituencies, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi cruised to her maiden electoral victory from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala with a margin of over 4.1 lakh votes against CPI(M)-led LDF's Sathyan Mokeri. The party also won Nanded in Maharashtra by a narrow margin after recounting the votes.
The assembly by-polls were held in nine seats in Uttar Pradesh, seven seats in Rajasthan, six seats in West Bengal, five seats in Assam, four seats each in Punjab and Bihar, three seats in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Meghalaya.
Bypolls for 15 assembly constituencies across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, and Uttarakhand took place on Wednesday, November 20. Results are also awaited for Rajasthan, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, and Karnataka by-polls.
In Uttar Pradesh, elections were held in Katehari, Karhal, Meerapur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, Sisamau, Khair, Phulpur, and Kundarki. Out of the nine constituencies, BJP is currently leading in five.
About 49.3 per cent voters cast their votes in bypolls to nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday with Ghaziabad logging just 33 per cent. The voter turnout in Ghaziabad was 33.3 per cent, Katehari (56.9 per cent), Khair (46.3 per cent), Kundarki (57.7 per cent), Karhal (54.1 per cent), Majhawan (50.41 per cent), Meerapur (57.1 per cent), Phulpur (43.43 per cent) and Shisamau (49.1 per cent).
In Punjab, four constituencies-Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC), and Barnala-went to the polls. The by-elections were prompted by the fact that the legislators representing these constituencies were elected to the Lok Sabha during the general elections earlier this year. Currently, AAP and Congress have won one seat each.
Besides Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, by-polls were also held for the Palakkad and Chelakkara seats in Kerala, Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, seven assembly seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four in Bihar and three in Karnataka.
—AGENCIES
