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Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav
NEW DELHI: For the non-BJP/NDA parties, Monday’s by-poll results
coming in from Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab were a shot
in the arm. It somewhat wiped out the humiliation they faced in the
parliamentary polls. The Congress too showed signs of a revival, winning
seats in all the states, some with an unexpected margin.
In Bihar, the Lalu Prasad-Nitish
Kumar-Congress combine’s spectacular six out of 10 seat win proved that
days of Mandal or coalition politics was not over yet, and that a ‘grand
alliance’ can restrict the Modi phenomenon.
The Narendra Modi-Amit Shah factor did not appear as invincible as it had seemed a few months ago.
There was no Modi campaign though, as no Prime Minister ever pitches for himself for by-elections in which the ruling dispensation undoubtedly always has a slight edge.
But the victory margins in at least four seats in Bihar — Parbatta, JD-U, Mohiuddinagar and Chhapra, RJD and Bagalapur, Congress — were quite significantly high, compared to seats won by the BJP with small margins.
If this is being interpreted as the beginning of a disillusionment with Modi/BJP by the opposition camp, BJP’s Shahnawaz Hussain strongly refuted the reading and said, “It is no way a reflection on the Central government’s performance, but the local leaders’ failure.”
The next bit of stunning news came from Karnataka, where the Siddaramaiah-led Congress wrested the Bellary (Rural) seat back from the BJP after a gap of 10 years. In between, the JD-S had held the seat for one term, and so for the Congress the win is after 15 long years, which should stymie the internal troubles the Chief Minister has been facing of late.
A senior Congress leader admitted that it was Siddaramaiah’s resolve to trounce the Bellary Reddys and his strategist Shiv Kumar’s work and the right candidate, N Y Gopalakrishnan, that helped them garner votes. Added to this the narrow margin, 6,430-vote, win by B S Yeddyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra in Shikaripura and the Congress win in Chikkodi-Sadalga, a traditional stronghold of the party, made the party upbeat.
In Punjab, it was one each for the ruling Akalis and the opposition Congress with the AAP disappearing from the scene. Ex-MoS, External Affairs, Preneet Kaur drubbed the Akali candidate.
Bellary in congress kitty after 10 years
The Siddaramiah-led Congress wrested the Bellary (Rural) seat in Karnataka back from the BJP after a gap of 10 years. A senior Congress leader said it was Siddaramaiah’s resolve to trounce the Bellary Reddys that helped them garner votes.
The Narendra Modi-Amit Shah factor did not appear as invincible as it had seemed a few months ago.
There was no Modi campaign though, as no Prime Minister ever pitches for himself for by-elections in which the ruling dispensation undoubtedly always has a slight edge.
But the victory margins in at least four seats in Bihar — Parbatta, JD-U, Mohiuddinagar and Chhapra, RJD and Bagalapur, Congress — were quite significantly high, compared to seats won by the BJP with small margins.
If this is being interpreted as the beginning of a disillusionment with Modi/BJP by the opposition camp, BJP’s Shahnawaz Hussain strongly refuted the reading and said, “It is no way a reflection on the Central government’s performance, but the local leaders’ failure.”
The next bit of stunning news came from Karnataka, where the Siddaramaiah-led Congress wrested the Bellary (Rural) seat back from the BJP after a gap of 10 years. In between, the JD-S had held the seat for one term, and so for the Congress the win is after 15 long years, which should stymie the internal troubles the Chief Minister has been facing of late.
A senior Congress leader admitted that it was Siddaramaiah’s resolve to trounce the Bellary Reddys and his strategist Shiv Kumar’s work and the right candidate, N Y Gopalakrishnan, that helped them garner votes. Added to this the narrow margin, 6,430-vote, win by B S Yeddyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra in Shikaripura and the Congress win in Chikkodi-Sadalga, a traditional stronghold of the party, made the party upbeat.
In Punjab, it was one each for the ruling Akalis and the opposition Congress with the AAP disappearing from the scene. Ex-MoS, External Affairs, Preneet Kaur drubbed the Akali candidate.
Bellary in congress kitty after 10 years
The Siddaramiah-led Congress wrested the Bellary (Rural) seat in Karnataka back from the BJP after a gap of 10 years. A senior Congress leader said it was Siddaramaiah’s resolve to trounce the Bellary Reddys that helped them garner votes.
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