New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party being reduced to a No. 3 player in Delhi’s Rajouri Garden and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah defying not just anti-incumbency but a far more potent force — the Narendra Modi-led BJP juggernaut — in Nanjangud and Gundlupet, were among the surprises thrown by the results of by-elections held across eight states. In line with the wider national narrative, the BJP either won or was comfortably leading in five out of 10 seats on Thursday.
Majinder Singh Sirsa, a joint candidate of BJP and its ally Shiromani Akali Dal, said the poll result was the beginning of “an end of the AAP in Delhi”.
Trying to put up a brave face, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said, “AAP’s loss in Rajouri bypoll won’t impact MCD elections.”
While Delhi gave only some respite to Congress, Nanjangud and Gundlupet seats in Karnataka gave it a reason to cheer in an otherwise depressing season of repeated electoral defeats. The bypolls here were seen as a battle of ego between CM Siddaramaiah and BS Yeddyurappa, BJP’s tallest leader in the state. Even though Yeddyurappa himself campaigned in both the seats, the voters gave a thumbs up to Congress.
“We bow our heads and accept the decision of the people,” Yeddyurappa told reporters after the results were announced. But this is only going to make BJP’s campaign more aggressive here ahead of the Assembly polls due in May 2018.
Nanjangud is in Siddaramaiah’s home district of Mysuru, which was vacant after his close aide V Srinivas Prasad quit the party to join BJP. Gundlupet seat was vacant after the death of Mahadeva Prasad, a minister. His wife Gita Mahadeva Prasad defeated BJP’s CS Niranjan Kumar.
“This is a big win for us. We are on track to win 60 seats in Assembly polls,” said Anurag Thakur, senior BJP MP who is also being seen by many as the party’s chief ministerial candidate.
In some of the predictable results, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje-led BJP won Dholpur seat in Rajasthan. Similarly, the party was leading in Litipara in Jharkhand and Dhemaji in Assam. In Madhya Pradesh’s Ater Congress pulled of a victory and in Bandhavgarh seat the BJP candidate won with a handsome margin.
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