INDIA bloc sweeps assembly by-polls
The Modi magic was already on the wane, as evident in the results of the Lok Sabha election. It faded further today with the declaration of the results for the 13 legislative assembly by-elections in seven states, held on July 10, the first elections since the declaration of the Lok Sabha results.
The scoreline today reads: INDIA bloc – 10, BJP – 2. Independents – 1.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC), Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) from the INDIA bloc won 10 seats in the states of Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand, further raising the profile of the anti-NDA Opposition across the country.
The winners from the INDIA bloc are as follows:
BENGAL: Krishna Kalyani (Raiganj), Madhuparna Thakur (Bagda), Mukut Mani Adhikari (Ranaghat Dakshin), Supti Pandey (Maniktala) (all from TMC)
HIMACHAL PRADESH: Hardeep Singh Bawa (Nalagarh), Kamlesh Thakur (Dehra) (both from Congress)
PUNJAB: Mohinder Bhagat (Jalandhar West) (AAP)
TAMIL NADU: Anniyur Siva (Vikravandi) (DMK)
UTTARAKHAND: Lakhapat Singh Butola (Badrinath), Qazi Mohammad Nizamuddin (Manglaur) (both from Congress)
The only winners from the Bharatiya Janata Party, which returned for a record third term in government after winning, but barely, the Lok Sabha elections, were Ashish Sharma in Hamirpur (in Himachal Pradesh) and Kamlesh Shah in Amarwada (in Madhya Pradesh).
The lone seat from Bihar was won by the Independent candidate, Shankar Singh.
