(NDTV)
In face of a recharged and united opposition, the BJP and its allies were seen to suffer a setback in the latest round of by-elections held on 10 assembly seats and four Lok Sabha seats across 10 states on Monday. The BJP lost Kairana – the most watched seat in Uttar Pradesh, where the opposition Rashtriya Lok Dal candidate had the backing of the Congress, Samajwadi Party and Mayawati. The BJP retained only one Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra and an assembly seat in Uttarakhand, losing two parliamentary seats and one assembly seat. Its allies Nitish Kumar and Shiromani Akali Dal lost one seat each in Bihar and Punjab to opposition parties. BJP ally NDPP is leading in one parliamentary seat in Nagaland.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav said the opposition’s win in Kairana and Noorpur was a win for the farmers, the neglected, the poor and the Dalits. He also thanked all opposition parties for coming together and ensuring the win in the bypolls. “Farmers were told their loans would be waived, but they lost lives instead. Voters made it a point to bear whatever the circumstances to come out just to teach a lesson to the BJP. I also thank all other political leaders who came together and stood together to ensure that we win,” he said.The by-election in Kairana — a seat BJP won in 2014 — was seen as testing ground for a broader opposition unity ahead of the 2019 elections.
Tabassum Begum, a candidate of Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal, had the backing of the Congress, Samajwadi Party and Dalit power house Mayawati.In Bihar, Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal wrested the Jokihat assembly seat from the ruling Janata Dal United. As his candidate beat Nitish Kumar’s candidate by over 41,000 votes, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said the coming together of Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati and the Congress has “helped” his party in Bihar. The Congress has won in Meghalaya’s Ampati — a victory that has made it the state’s single largest party and is expected to lend force to its claim of getting a shot at government formation.
