Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh sought to play down the BJP’s setback in the bypolls held across 10 states, the results of which were declared on Thursday, 31 May, saying that if one is to “take a giant leap, you will have to first take two steps back”.
In an apparent reference to the 2019 general elections, Singh added, “We will take a giant leap in the future.”
Among the four parliamentary constituencies where bypolls were held on Monday, the BJP lost to the RLD candidate in UP’s Kairana and to the NCP in Maharashtra’s Bhandara Gondia. BJP’s only significant victory came in Palghar in Maharashtra, where it was up against its estranged ally Shiv Sena. Meanwhile, of the 10 Assembly seats where bypolls were held, the BJP won only one – in Uttarakhand’s Tharali.