The Hindu : Front Page : Trinamool, BSP score major wins in by-elections

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Trinamool, BSP score major wins in by-elections

New Delhi Bureau

Congress wins 10 seats, bags Firozabad Lok Sabha seat

Raj Babbar defeats Mulayam’s daughter-in-law
The Left front suffers worst defeat in Kerala

— PHOTOS: SUSHANTA PATRONOBISH and RAVEENDRA KUMAR

SAVOURING VICTORY: Trinamool Congress supporters celebrate the victory of the Trinamool-Congress alliance in the by-elections to the West Bengal Assembly, in Kolkata on Tuesday. The alliance bagged eight of the 10 seats.

NEW DELHI: The Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party emerged as major winners in the latest by-elections, picking up the lion’s share of the 31 Assembly seats spread across seven States, for which counting was held on Tuesday.

In the Firozabad Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, Congress nominee actor-politician Raj Babbar defeated Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh’s daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav with a margin of 85,043 votes. The Lok Sabha seat fell vacant as her husband Akilesh Yadav, who won from both Kannuj and Firozabad in the general elections held earlier, decided to retain the former seat.

The SP’s loss of Firozabad was mirrored by other Assembly losses in Uttar Pradesh, and with the Bharatiya Janata Party turning in a lacklustre performance in the State, Tuesday’s results further suggest the emerging political contest in the country’s most populous province could well be between Mayawati’s BSP, which won 9 seats, and a Rahul Gandhi-driven Congress organisation, which is slowly beginning to make its impact on the ground.

The BSP originally had one seat in Uttar Pradesh and the Trinamool five seats in West Bengal out of those seats that went to polls on November 7.

Film actor and Congress candidate Raj Babbar is mobbed in Lucknow after his election to the Lok Sabha from Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh, defeating Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh’s daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav by over 85,000 votes.

The BJP could gain only two of the four Assembly seats originally held by it in Uttar Pradesh (two seats), Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Now, the party had won one seat each in Rajasthan and Himachal.

Overall, the Congress won 10 seats out of nine seats held by it. The party has won all the three seats in Kerala, two in Assam, one each in West Bengal, U.P., Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Originally the party had two seats each in West Bengal and U.P., three in Kerala and one each in Rajasthan and Himachal. The Left front suffered worst defeat in Kerala as it gained nothing and in West Bengal, its ally All India Forward Bloc could gain only one seat. Originally in West Bengal the CPI(M) had two seats and the RSP one.

In West Bengal and U.P. the independents have won seat each. Some of the other losers include the Asom Gana Parishad and the Assam United Democratic Front, which have lost one seat each to the Congress; and the Janata Dal (United), one seat in U.P. to the BSP.

In the Firozabad Lok Sabha seat, BSP’s S.P. Singh Baghel finished third. While Mr. Babbar polled 3,12,428 votes, Ms. Dimple Yadav secured 2,27,385 votes and Mr. Baghel 2,13,571 votes.

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