Bypolls Results: BJP Still Strong, Congress Eclipse Continues
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-11-07 07:51:55
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack
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Not much can be read into bypolls results as they are mostly based on local issues and do not reflect a state-wide trend. Yet the results of the 7 seats in 6 states where bypolls were held were important as political equations had changed in one state (Bihar), defection had made BJP stronger in another (Haryana) and in the southern state of Telangana, the face-off between the BJP and the strong regional outfit TRS was supposed to give an indication how things will pan out in the state in the assembly elections in 2023. The BJP retained the Dharampur seat in Odisha despite a strong challenge from the BJD, Gola Gokarnnath in UP and wrested the Adampur seat in Haryana from the Congress as Kuldeep Bishnoi left the Congress to join the party and Adampur is known as Bishnoi turf. With the score being 4 out of 6 for the BJP (it had withdrew its candidate from Andheri (East) in Maharashtra giving a walkover to the Shiv Sena (UBT)), the results proved that the party is still in a dominating position.
In Bihar, elections were held for two seats - Gopalganj (held by BJP) and Mokama (held by RJD). Since political equations have changed in the state and Nitish Kumar dumped the BJP to form a mahagathbandhan with RJD and the Congress, it was expected that the BJP would find the going tough as opposition votes would not be divided. In the end, the results were mixed as the BJP retained the Gopalganj seat but with a hugely reduced margin while the RJD retained the Mokama seat, again with a reduced margin.
In Telangana, the Munugode seat was held by the Congress but with the party getting elbowed out in the intense battle for supremacy between the TRS and the BJP, the former managed to pip the latter by over 10000 votes in a prestige battle. But since the BJP managed to give a stiff fight to the regional outfit, the result shows that TRS is not going to have it easy in the state elections in 2023.
Finally, the results also showed the complete eclipse of the Congress. It lost both the seats (Adampur in Haryana and Munugode in Telangana) it held and fared poorly in all other seats with its candidates losing their deposits in most seats. The opposition - both the Congress and the regional parties - have their task cut out. They have to form strategic alliances and think of out of the box strategies to stop the BJP juggernaut.
