The results of the by-elections to ten different assembly constituencies were declared on Thursday. These ten constituencies are in eight different states. The BJP won five of these, the Congress won three and the Trinamool Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won one each.
Himachal Pradesh (Bhoranj)
Bhoranj in Himachal Pradesh was held by the BJP before this election. The BJP retained this seat though their vote share has gone down by more than 7 percent. Even the Congress’ vote share has gone down this time around because of an Independent who polled close to 10 percent of the total vote.
Karnataka (Gundlupet, Nanjangud)
Both Gundlupet and Nanjangud were held by the Congress. The Congress retained both these seats and increased its vote share in both the seats. The reason why the BJP’s vote share in 2013 was very low is because former BJP CM Yeddyurappa had floated a regional outfit – the Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) – in 2013 and the KJP won a substantial vote share in both these places in 2013. The Janata Dal (Secular) also contested in Nanjangud in 2013, but this time it was a straight fight between the Congress and the BJP.
Madhya Pradesh (Ater, Bandhavgarh)
The BJP and the Congress held one seat each in Madhaya Pradesh. Both the parties retained their respective seats. In Ater, the BJP substantially improved its vote share and lost by a whisker.
The Congress also improved its vote share here. The absence of a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate who polled more than 17 percent in 2013 resulted in a two-way fight between the Congress and the BJP. In Bandhavgarh, the BJP won comfortably and both the parties increased its vote share, again thanks to BSP for not contesting.
Rajasthan (Dholpur)
The BSP won this seat in 2013 elections with a vote share of close to 38 percent. With the BSP not choosing to contest this time, the entire BSP vote seems to have gone to the BJP and it increased its vote share by a whopping 35 percent.
West Bengal (Kanthi Dakshin)
The Trinamool Congress won this seat in 2016. This time around, it won handsomely with an increased vote share. But the real story of this election is the BJP’s second place finish.
In 2016, the CPI had won 34.22 percent vote and was in the second place. This time around, it has been relegated to the third place with only 10.21 percent vote share. The BJP gained more than 22 percent vote compared to 2016.
Jharkhand (Littipara)
This seat was won by the JMM in 2014 with a vote share of 45.93 percent. The JMM retained this seat with a 46.39 percent vote share. The BJP improved its vote share, but could not win. The Congress did not contest this time around.
Delhi (Rajouri Garden)
The real story of this round of by-elections is from Delhi.
In 2015, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won this seat with a vote share of 46.55 percent. The Akali Dal candidate (BJP’s ally in 2015) won 38.04 percent votes while the Congress could garner 12 percent votes.
This time, the Akali Dal candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa contested on a BJP ticket and won with a vote share of 51.99 percent. The AAP has been relegated to the 3rd place with just 13.12 percent votes and forfeited its deposit.
The Congress, on the other hand, recovered from its 2015 drubbing and polled 33.23 percent vote. It has to be noted that the overall polling percentage in 2017 decreased by over 25 percent compared to 2015.
Assam (Dhemaji)
The BJP won this seat in 2016 with a vote share of 40.9 percent. It retained this seat with an increased vote share. The Congress also increased its vote share by over 14 percent since it was a two-way fight between the Congress and the BJP.
BJP Gains, Congress Holds on and Others Lose
The BJP, which held only three out of these 10 seats before this election, has won five seats now gaining two – one each from the AAP and the BSP. The Congress, on the other hand, was able to hold on to the three seats it held before this election. The AAP and the BSP lost their seat while the Trinamool Congress and the JMM retained their respective seats.
(The article was originally published on Factly.)
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