The BJP on Thursday won half of the 10 Assembly seats in bypolls across seven States and Delhi while the Congress bagged three and the Trinamool Congress and the JMM one each with all but two of the seats being retained.
Of the five seats won by the BJP, the party retained three while it wrested the remaining two from the AAP in Delhi and the BSP in Rajasthan——Rajouri Garden and Dholpur respectively.
The BJP retained one seat each in Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Assam winning from Bandhavgarh, Bhoranj (SC) and Dhemaji respectively.
Maintaining its hold, the ruling Congress in Karnataka retained the Nanjangud and Gundlupet Assembly seats in which the party and the BJP had played for high stakes. It also retained the Ater seat in Bhind district in M.P. by a close margin of 857 votes. Ater had witnessed violence on the polling day.
The Trinamool Congress kept the Kanthi Dakshin seat in West Bengal where the BJP finished second while the JMM retained Littipara (ST) Assembly seat in Jharkhand defeating ruling BJP.
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Congress wins Ater seat in Madhya Pradesh
Congress candidate Hemant Katare wins Ater defeating his nearest rival Arvind Singh Bhadoria of the BJP by a margin of 857 votes.
With this victory, the opposition party retains the seat in Bhind district, though with a significantly reduced margin as compared to 2013.
In the initial rounds of counting, the BJP and the Congress candidates were in a neck-and-neck race. But later Mr. Katare established a convincing lead of over 9,000 votes. In the last two rounds Mr. Bhadoria closed the gap to a large extent but Mr. Katare romped home with a margin of 857 votes.
In 2013, the Congress nominee’s father, Satyadev Katare, had won the seat with a comprehensive margin of 11,426 votes. Satyadev Katare’s death necessitated the bypoll. After the last round, Mr. Bhadoria demanded a recount but the Returning Officer rejected his plea and declared the result.
The Ater Assembly segment was embroiled in an EVM row ahead of the April 9, 2017 bypoll. The row began with the trial of an EVM at Ater, when some reports suggested that voter-verifiable paper audit trail machine dispensed only BJP slips, no matter which button on it was pressed. However, MP’s Chief Electoral Officer denied this. VVPAT is a machine which dispenses a slip with the symbol of the party for which a person has voted for. The slip drops in a box but the voter cannot take it home.
Trinamool wins WB bypoll; BJP finishes second; Left, Congress lose deposit
Trinamool Congress candidate Chandrima Bhattacharya wins the bypoll from the Kanthi Dakshin Assembly constituency defeating her nearest BJP rival Sourindra Mohan Jana by 42,526 votes.
The Left and Congress candidates finish third and fourth positions respectively, losing their deposits.
Ms. Bhattacharya secures 95,369 votes while the BJP candidate bags 52,843 votes compared to 15,000 votes polled by the party candidate in last year’s Assembly polls.
Left Front-supported CPI candidate Uttam Pradhan secures 17,423 votes, which is only 10% of the total votes polled. In 2016, when the Left Front had fought Assembly elections in alliance with the Congress, it secured 34.73% votes. Congress candidate Naba Kumar Nanda manages to get only 2,270 votes, which is just 1.3% of the total votes polled.
Trinamool’s win from Kanthi Dakshin is expected as East Midnapore district is a stronghold of the party. Trinamool increases vote share by 2% compared to the 2016 Assembly polls when its candidate secured 93,359 votes.
Impressive performance by BJP, says PM on bypoll results
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hails the “impressive performance” of the BJP in the bypolls. “Impressive performance by @BJP4India and NDA in the by— polls in different parts of the country. Congratulations to Karyakartas,” Mr. Modi tweets. “I thank the people for the constant support, blessings & unwavering faith in politics of development and good governance.”
Karnataka: Congress retains Nanjangud and Gundlupet
Congress party’s Kalale Keshavamurthy defeated BJP’s V Srinivas Prasad, a former Minister, in Nanjangud by a margin of 21,334 votes while Geetha Mahadev Prasad, wife of former Minister Mahadev Prasad, who was the Congress candidate in Gundlupet, beat her BJP rival Niranjan Kumar by 10,887 votes.
Madhya Pradesh: BJP retains Bandhavgarh; Congress leading in Ater
The BJP retained the Bandhavgarh Assembly seat in Madhya Prades after defeating rival Congress by margin of over 25,000 votes.
BJP nominee Shivnarayan Singh defeated Congress' candidate Savitri Singh from the seat in Umaria district by 25,476 votes.
The bypoll was necessitated as BJP MLA Gyan Singh got elected to the Lok Sabha in November last year from Shahdol in a by-election.
The Congress was leading in Ater in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind district. After the first round, Congress' Hemant Katere was leading in Ater constituency by a margin of 44 votes against BJP's Arvind Singh Bhadoria, an election official said.
Assam: BJP wins Dhemaji seat
BJP candidate Ranoj Pegu won the Dhemaji Assembly by-election in Assam defeating his nearest Congress rival Babul Sonowal by 9,285 votes.
While the BJP candidate polled 75,217 votes, his Congress rival garnered 65,932 votes, the election office here said.
Rajasthan: BJP's Shobha Rani Kushwah wins Dholpur assembly bypoll
BJP wins Dholpur Assembly bypoll, with its candidate Shobha Rani Kushwah defeating her nearest rival of Congress Banwari Lal Sharma with a record margin of 38,678 votes. With this win, the BJP’s tally increases to 161 in the Assembly of 200.
Ms. Shobha Rani Kushwah get 91,548 votes against Congress’s 52,875 votes. In the 2013 Assembly polls, the seat was won by Ms. Shobha Rani Kushwah’s husband B.L. Kushwah, who had contested on a BSP ticket. He won despite the Modi wave and the BJP then came third.
Himachal Pradesh: BJP candidate Anil Dhiman wins by 8,290 votes in Bhoranj
BJP candidate Dr. Anil Dhiman won the Bhoranj (SC) Assembly seat in Himachal Pradesh by 8,290 votes.
The BJP candidate Dr Anil Dhiman defeated his nearest Congress rival, Promila Devi by 8,290 votes. Dhiman polled 24,453 votes against 16,144 votes polled by Devi while Pawan Chandel, a BJP rebel who contested as an Independent, polled 4,630 votes.
263 voters opted for NOTA. The polling for by-election was held on April 9.
The seat fell vacant following the death of BJP stalwart and former minister Ishwar Dass Dhiman, who won the seat six times in a row since 1990 and now his son Dr Anil Dhiman has retained the seat.
With this, the strength of the BJP has increased to 28 in the 68-member House.
New Delhi: BJP bags Rajouri Garden Assembly seat, AAP loses deposit
The BJP registered a huge victory in the Rajouri Garden Assembly bypoll in the national capital on Thursday handing a humiliating defeat to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, which finished a distant third and even lost deposit.
BJP-SAD joint candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa bagged 40,602 seats, over 50 per cent of the total votes polled, in a boost for the saffron party ahead of the April 23 municipal polls.
Congress' Meenakshi Chandela finished second with 25,950 votes while AAP's Harjeet Singh managed to get only 10,243 votes, less than one-sixth of the total votes polled, and lost deposit.
| Candidate | Party | Votes polled |
| Manjinder Singh Sirsa | BJP+ SAD | 40602 |
| Meenakshi Chandela | Congress | 25950 |
| Harjeet Singh | AAP | 10243 |
| NOTA | 641 | |
| Hardeep Singh | Ind. | 225 |
| Devinder Singh Nagi | Ind. | 219 |
| Lalit Tak | Ind. | 211 |
BJP leads in both Madhya Pradesh assembly constituencies
After two rounds of ballot counting at Ater in Bhind district, BJP candidate Arvind Singh Bhadoria was leading over his nearest Congress rival Hemant Katare by 637 votes, according to the EC website.
Likewise, BJP’s Shivnarayan Singh was ahead of his Congress rival Savitri Singh by a comfortable margin of 10,965 votes at Bandhavgarh after nine rounds of ballot count.
Congress widens lead over BJP in Nanjangud
Congress’ Kalale N Keshavamurthy was leading by over 15,000 votes against former Minister V Srinivas Prasad of BJP in Nanjangud.
In Gundlupet, Geeta Mahadeva Prasad (Cong) was ahead by over 4,500 votes against BJP’s C S Niranjanakumar, electoral officials said.
Both the seats were held by the Congress.
BJP leads in six out of 10 bypolls
The BJP was on Thursday leading in six and the Congress in two out of 10 assembly constituencies across eight states where by-elections were held on Sunday, said the Election Commission.
As early trends emerged after the vote count began at 8 a.m., the Bharatiya Janata Party was ahead of the Congress in two assembly constituencies, Ater and Bandhavgarh, of Madhya Pradesh, and one each in Assam (Dhemaji), Rajasthan (Dholpur), Delhi (Rajouri Garden) and Himachal Pradesh (Bhoranj).
The Congress was ahead of the BJP in two Karantaka constituencies, Nanjangud and Gundlupet, while the Trinamool Congress was leading in West Bengal’s Kanthi Dakshin.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) was ahead in Littipara constituency of Jharkhand.
BJP candidate Shobha Rani leading by 4,704 votes in Dholpur bypoll
After two rounds of counting, BJP candidate Shobha Rani Kushwaha was leading in the bypoll to Dholpur Assembly constituency by over 4,700 votes.
“The counting began this morning and the BJP candidate is leading by 4,704 votes after two rounds,” the state election commission said.
The Congress candidate Banwari Lal Sharma was trailing in the initial trend.
The by-election was necessitated following disqualification of BSP MLA B.L. Kushwaha in a murder case and the BJP surprised observers by pitting his wife Shobha Rani as its candidate against Congress veteran Banwari Lal Sharma.
Health Minister Kalicharan Saraf said that the people of Dholpur voted for development and the party is going to win the seat.
Trinamool leads, BJP second in Bengal bypoll
West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress has established a comfortable lead with the BJP moving up to the second position by displacing the Left Front (LF) in the ongoing counting for the Kanthi Dakshin assembly seat by-polls on Thursday.
With counting for six out of the total 17 rounds complete, Trinamool candidate and former state Health Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya was ahead by over 20,000 votes over her nearest rival Sourindramohan Jana of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Trinamool had won the seat in last year’ assembly polls.
The Left Front nominated Uttam Pradhan of the Communist Party of India was running third.
BJP takes early lead in Dholpur
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday took early lead over the Congress in Rajasthan’s Dholpur Assembly as counting began for the by-poll that was held on April 9.
By-election for this seat was necessitated after Bahujan Samaj Party legislator Banwari Lal Kushavah was disqualified as he was convicted in a murder case in 2016.
BJP’s Shobha Rani Kushavah, wife of the convicted BSP leader, was leading by a margin of more than 2,100 votes over Congress’ Banwari Lal Sharma, a former minister. In all, 15 candidates were in the fray here.
Kejriwal questions EC’s ‘open challenge’ to hack EVMs
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday questioned the Election Commission’s “open challenge” to political parties and experts to prove that EVMs can be manipulated.
Kejriwal wondered why the Commission was not coming out with any official statement and pushing the news of the reported challenge through “sources” instead.
Congress leading in Ater, BJP in Bandhavgarh
The Congress is leading in Ater in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhind district while the BJP is ahead in Bandhavgarh after the first round of counting of votes for the assembly seats.
After the first round, Congress’ Hemant Katere is leading in Ater constituency by a margin of 44 votes against BJP’s Arvind Singh Bhadoria, an election official said.
BJP’s Shivnaryan Singh was ahead in Bandhavgarh against his rival Savitri Singh of Congress with 5,477 votes after the fourth round.
Earlier postal votes were counted.
The bypoll in Bandhavgarh seat was necessitated as MLA Gyan Singh was elected to the Lok Sabha in November last year.
In Ater, the byelection was necessitated following the death of Congress leader Satyadev Katare
The by-elections for the two seats were held on April 9.
Rajouri Garden: BJP leading, AAP trailing in third position
The BJP appeared headed for a victory in the Rajouri Garden assembly constituency after the end of fifth round of counting, relegating the incumbent AAP to the third position.
With 13,542 votes in his kitty, BJP candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa was ahead of his Congress rival Meenakshi Chandela by nearly 4,000 votes. AAP’s Harjeet Singh had 2,668 votes to his name by the end of the fifth round of counting.
According to the election office, counting began at 8 AM and the process is expected to be wrapped up by 10.30 AM.
Around 47 per cent of the west Delhi seat’s over 1.6 lakh electors had cast their vote on April 9.
The seat fell vacant early this year after AAP’s Jarnail Singh quit as MLA to contest Punjab Assembly poll against SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal.
For the BJP and the Congress, success in the bye-election is crucial for their continuing relevance in the city’s politics while it will be a test for the AAP’s popularity.
Congress leads in Nanjangud and Gundlupet bypolls
Congress was leading in Nanjangud (reserved) and Gundlupet assembly constituencies where bypolls were held on April 9.
Congress party candidates, who were leading over their BJP rivals when the counting began, maintained their lead even till the end of the fourth round of counting.
Congress candidate Kalale Keshavamurthy was leading by 9,233 over BJP's V Srinivas Prasad in Nanjangud by the end of third round.
In Gundlupet, Congress candidate Geetha Mahadev Prasad was leading 3,528 votes against BJP's Niranjan Kumar at the end of fourth round of counting.
