Cong banks on vow of new district in Khairagarh bypoll, BJP on urban voters
Amid sporadic incidents of violence, about 52.7 per cent polling was recorded till 5 pm in bypolls to Asansol Lok Sabha and Ballygunge Assembly constituencies on Tuesday. According to an official of the Election Commission, the voting was “peaceful”. While 64.3 per cent polling was recorded in Asansol, about 41.1 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the Ballygunge Assembly constituency in Kolkata.
The bypoll to the Khairagarh Legislative Assembly constituency in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district was conducted Tuesday with a voter turnout of nearly 78 per cent. The ruling Congress believes that its promise to carve out a new district for Khairagarh would lead to its win on the counting day (April 16) while the BJP banks on its sway among urban voters as it gears up for the 2023 assembly polls.
The bypoll was necessitated by the death of Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (Jogi) MLA Devwrat Singh on November 4, at the age of 52. Singh, who had quit the Congress to join the party set up by former chief minister late Ajit Jogi was the scion of the Khairagarh royal family.
"We have created history by winning with a record margin. Its a victory of democracy, the people of Asansol, TMC workers and CM Mamata Banerjee," TMC leader Shatrughan Sinha said on his Asansol win.
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The Trinamool Congress (TMC) Saturday won the Asansol Lok Sabha constituency for the first time since the party’s formation in 1998 and retained the Ballygunge Assembly constituency, making a clean sweep in West Bengal bypolls.
In Asansol, former Union minister turned TMC candidate Shatrughan Sinha emerged victorious by a massive margin of 3,03,209 votes while BJP MLA turned party candidate Agnimitra Paul came second. Sinha bagged 6,56,358 votes while Paul got 3,53,149 votes. Read more
"We're happy as the people of Asansol have welcomed us with open hands. It feels like we are from Asansol only. It can only happen in India where people love each other," Shatrughan Sinha's wife Poonam Sinha said on her husband's victory in the Asansol Lok Sabha bypolls.
The parting of ways with Mukesh Sahani’s Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) has led to BJP’s defeat in the bypoll for the Bochahan (Muzaffarpur) assembly seat in Bihar. On the other hand, the split in NDA votes helped the RJD regain the seat after over 15 years. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Amar Kumar Paswan won the seat with a handsome margin of 36,653 votes. BJP’s Baby Kumari finished as the runner-up, whereas VIP nominee Geeta Kumari came third. The VIP, however, said that “its purpose of defeating the BJP was served.”
Notably, the VIP was ousted from the NDA recently after all its three MLAs crossed over to the BJP. VIP chief Sahani, an MLC, was later sacked from Nitish Kumar’s cabinet. Read full story here
Congress candidate Jayshree Jadhav won the Kolhapur North Assembly bypoll in Maharashtra securing 54.25 per cent votes while its Yashoda Nilamber Verma bagged in Khairagarh Assembly constituency in Chhattisgarh.
TMC candidate Babul Supriyo collects his certificate after winning in Ballygunge Assembly by-polls in West Bengal.
The Trinamool Congress on Saturday won the Ballygunge Assembly seat in West Bengal by a margin 20,228 of votes. While the winning candidate Babul Supriyo secured 49.69 per cent of the total votes polled, CPI(M)’s Saira Shah Halim clinched the second position with 30.06 per cent votes. The party is currently leading Asansol Lok Sabha seat where Shatrughan Sinha was fielded as its heavyweight candidate.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Saturday won Bochahan Assembly seat — the lone constituency that went for bypolls in Bihar. RJD candidate Amar Kumar Paswan secured 48.52 per cent votes to emerge as the winner, with BJP candidate Baby Kumari in the second position. Congress candidate Jayshree Jadhav won the Kolhapur North Assembly bypoll in Maharashtra securing 54.25 per cent votes.
A united Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) proved too much for the BJP to handle as Congress candidate Jayshree Jadhav emerged victorious in the Kolhapur North Assembly bypoll in Maharashtra, the counting for which took place on Saturday, with a margin of over 19,000 votes.
Jayshree Jadhav, the widow of Congress MLA Chandrakant Jadhav whose death in December last year necessitated the bypoll, defeated Satyajit Kadam of the BJP in a contest in which both sides left no stone unturned to woo voters and where allegations and counter-allegations ruled the roost during the campaigning phase. Read more
"CPI(M) didn't have anything for people, they stooped low during campaign. Shatrughan Sinha won by a margin of over 1lakh votes & we'll work together with him. The results are a slap to BJP for their hubris & the way they demean Bengalis," TMC leader Babul Supriyo, who is leading in Ballygunj seat in Bengal bypolls, said.
"Babul Supriyo's victory in Ballygunge was predictable, Keya Ghosh has put up a big fight. We urge Police, administration, and the Election Commission to keep a check on violence in the state. Post poll violence should not take place in West Bengal," Agnimitra Paul added.
BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul said, "There were some shortcomings from our end because of which we had to face defeat. Public's verdict will be accepted. Few cases of rigging were seen at some places but central forces worked really well. We'll work at grassroots levels in the forthcoming days."
Congress candidate Jayshree Jadhav emerged victorious in the Kolhapur North Assembly bypoll, winning by a margin of over 19,000 votes.
Babul Supriyo, who is leading in the Ballygunge constituency bypoll, thanked party workers for helping him reach where is. “Mamata Banerjee guided us for working on the ground. The BJP's position shows the effect of fuel price hikes. Our party workers toiled in every corner,” he said.
After ten rounds of counting for the bypoll to Khairagarh Assembly seat in Chhattisgarh, the Congress candidate is ahead of the BJP by over 12,000 votes. The Janta Congress Chhattisgarh Jogi (JCC (J)) has been left further behind with independent candidates racing ahead of the party. Bypoll to Khairagarh — that falls in the Naxal-affected Rajnandgaon district — was necessitated after the death of sitting JCC(J) MLA Devvrat Singh, who belonged to the royal family in Khairagarh. The JCC (J) had given a ticket to his brother-in-law for the bypolls, hoping to gain votes from the sympathy for Singh. The Congress candidate Yashoda Verma and the BJP’s Komal Janghel are from the OBC community that is numerically strong in the region. In the 2018 Assembly elections, Janghel lost by a slim margin of 850 votes. (By Gargi Verma)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee thanked the people of Asansol and Ballygunge for choosing the candidates of her party. She wrote: “I sincerely thank the electors of the Asansol Parliamentary Constituency and the Ballygunge Assembly Constituency for giving decisive mandate to AITC party candidates. We consider this to be our people's warm Shubho Nababarsho gift to our Ma- Mati- Manush organization. Salute to the voters for reposing faith in us, yet again.”
Shatrughan Sinha, who is contesting the Asansol Lok Sabha bypoll on a Trinamool ticket, has increased his lead to over 1,35,000 votes. Moreover, TMC is also leading in all seven Assembly constituencies under Asansol.
The BJP is falling behind is all four assembly seats of Bengal, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Bihar, as well as the Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal.
With the fourth round of counting coming to an end in Chhattisgarh’s Khairagarh constituency, the Congress candidate is leading with 4,082 votes while the BJP candidate is trailing with over 3,000 votes. The Janta Congress Chhattisgarh Jogi (JCCJ) is left further behind with its vote count in double digits. The bypoll was necessitated after the death of sitting MLA Devwrat Singh, who belonged to the royal family in Khairagarh which falls under the Rajnandgaon district. An erstwhile member of the Congress, he had contested the seat on a ticket from JCCJ. His party had named his brother-in-law for the bypolls in a hope to gain sympathy.
Meanwhile, both BJP and Congress had named their candidates from the OBC community. BJP candidate Komal Janghel had to face a loss by a margin of just 850 votes in the 2018 Vidhan Sabha election. (ENS)
Notwithstanding an aggressive campaign by the BJP, after 15 rounds of counting, Congress candidate Jayshri Jadhav is leading in the North Kolhapur Assembly seat, the bypoll for which was held on April 12 following the death of Congress MLA Chandrakant Jadhav in December 2021. By around 11.30 am on Saturday, the Congress candidate was leading by over 13,998 votes compared to the BJP’s Satyajit Kadam. Jadhav has so far secured 58,351 votes, while Kadam got 44,353 votes.
Speaking with The Indian Express, minister and Congress leader Satej Patil expressed confidence that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate will win the bypoll. “Our candidate should win by over 15,000 votes,” Patil said. (ENS)
After the fourth round of counting, Shatrughan Sinha is leading by a mammoth margin of over 40,000 votes in Asansol.
After the twelfth round of counting in Kolhapur North bypoll, Congress's Jayashri Jadhav is leading by over 9175 votes. Jadhav has received 46371 votes while the BJP's Satyajeet Kadam has received 37196 votes
After 10 rounds of counting, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Amar Paswan, son of former MLA of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) Musafir Paswan, is currently leading with 36,640 votes against BJP candidate Baby Kumari, who has till now bagged 20,420 votes, in the Bochaha bypoll in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar. The votes will be counted in a total of 25 rounds. VIP candidate Geeta Kumari is in the third place with 14,616.
The Bochaha bypoll, necessitated after the death of Musafir Paswan, is being touted as a prestige battle for the BJP after the exit of VIP from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which seems to have split the NDA votes to RJD’s advantage. (ENS)
After tenth round, Babul Supriyo is leading by a margin of 7,872 votes from Ballygunge. Supriyo bagged 28,635 votes. CPM candidate Saira Shah has Halim is at second position after getting 20,763 votes. BJP candidate Keya Ghosh is at fourth position after getting 4092 votes.
As per official early trends by the Election Commission, Congress leads on Khairagarh Assembly seat in Chhattisgarh as counting for the by-election gets underway.
The Trinamool Congress is leading in both seats in Bengal. Shatrughan Sinha is leading by more than 6,500 votes in Asansol. Babul Supriyo is leading by more than 4,600 votes in Ballygunge.
Fifteen candidates are in the fray for the Kolhapur North constituency assembly seat in Maharashtra. The seat fell vacant after the death of Congress’s Chandrakant Kadam in December 2021. Congress has fielded Kadam’s wife Jayashree and BJP has Satyajit Shivaji Kadam — nephew of party spokesperson Dhananjay Mahadik as its candidate.
Good Morning and welcome to our Live Blog. We'll be covering the bypolls results today, bringing you all the action from the three states, including the star-studded contest in West Bengal. Follow this space for all latest news and updates