Rama wins, Congress retains Dausa seat

Rama Pilot defeated Rohitashav Kumar of the BJP by over 65,000 votes in this constituency in Rajasthan, some 10 times more than the margin of victory of her late husband.

The Congress’ victory in Dausa Lok Sabha seat as well as in assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra has come as yet another shot in the arm especially after the fairly good performance in the Kerala and Gujarat civic polls.

It will be interesting to see which way Rama goes in the party now that she has replaced her husband as an MP. Pilot was known for his bold views on party matters and was often used by the dissidents as their most public face.

It is, however, a point of significance that CWC member Jitendra Prasada — a top dissident with whom Pilot had teamed up before his death to hold joint public rallies — was fairly active in campaigning for Rama in Dausa. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on the other hand did not put up an appearance in Dausa in keeping with the tradition that party presidents don’t campaign in by-elections.

Congress sources say that Sonia is likely to involve Rama in party work.

The loss in Sunam assembly constituency, however, comes as a setback to the Congress with Assembly elections due next year and especially in the light of the party sweeping the local bodies’ polls in the State recently.

The Congress retained a seat each in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra but also lost two others in Karnataka and Rajasthan.

The Congress retained Shaherkotda in Gujarat and Lakhnadon in Madhya Pradesh against the BJP and Shahuwadi in Maharashtra against an Independent. The BJP wrested the Lunkaransar seat in Rajasthan from the Congress while the Janata Dal (United) did the same in Kagwad in Karnataka. The Congress had swept the Assembly elections last year.

The Samajwadi Party not only retained the Karhal seat in Uttar Pradesh but also increased its victory margin from the last election. The SP’s Anil Yadav was victorious here defeating his nearest BJP rival. The Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress were also in the fray.

In Manipur, Jayanta Kumar of the Federal Party of Manipur was elected from Keisamthong. He defeated L. Lalit Singh of Manipur State Congress Party by a margin of 3914 votes.