The Congress suffered a serious setback as it lost 18 of the 28 seats in the just-concluded by-elections to the Assemblies in 10 States and the Nellore Lok Sabha seat in Andhra Pradesh.
The party could win only three seats while losing 18 Assembly seats and the Lok Sabha seat it held originally. The Congress' defeat does not include the Tirupati and Allagadda Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, which were originally held by the Praja Rajyam Party led by actor-politician Chiranjeevi. The PRP has since merged with the Congress. These three and another 13 Assembly seats and the Nellore Lok Sabha seat have been secured by the YSR Congress party led by Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy.
An aspirant for Chief Minister after the death of his father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Jagan rebelled against the Congress and formed his own party.
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The Congress retained Ramachandrapuram and Narsapur in Andhra Pradesh, and snatched Neyyattinkara in Kerala from the CPI(M).
The BJP retained Cortalim (Goa) and wrested Maheshwar (SC) in Madhya Pradesh from the Congress.
In Tamil Nadu, the ruling AIADMK won the Pudukottai seat (originally held by the CPI, but it did not contest this time).
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In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress retained both Daspur and Bankura. The Trinamool also sprang a surprise in Uttar Pradesh, winning the Mant seat, which was originally held by the Rashtriya Lok Dal of Ajit Singh.
In Jharkhand, the All Jharkhand Students Union snatched the Hatia seat from the Congress and in Maharashtra, the Nationalist Congress Party retained Kaij (SC).
In Tripura, Nalchar (SC) has been retained by the ruling CPI (M).
While the polls in Kerala and Goa were held on June 2, in the other States they were held on June 12.