EC announces bypolls, stage set for next electoral battle

NEW DELHI: With the Election Commission announcing bypolls for 18 assembly seats in four states including Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, the stage is set for the first major electoral battle after the Lok Sabha polls.
Polling will take place on these 18 seats on August 21. Ten seats will go to polls in Bihar where the once bitter rivals JD(U) and RJD have joined hands to defeat the common ‘enemy’ BJP which, however, appears to be on a strong wicket after winning the parliamentary election under Narendra Modi.
By-polls on three seats each will take place in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh whereas two seats will go to polls in Punjab where the BJP-Akali Dal combine did not do too well during the Lok Sabha polls. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which was completely wiped out in Delhi in the April-May parliamentary elections, won four seats in Punjab.
The bypolls at Talwani Sabo and Patiala in Punjab will see whether AAP can replicate its success on these two seats as well or the BJP-SAD alliance is be able to regain lost ground riding on the Lok Sabha victory.
Bihar appears to be a real test for BJP which, in alliance with LJP and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), had won 31 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in the recent polls.
With Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and Lalu Prasad’s RJD deciding to join hands against the BJP, the bypolls will give the parties an opportunity to test the alliance as well as issues before next year’s assembly elections in the state.
The result of the bypolls will prove whether BJP is in a position to make its ‘Mission 175’ possible to come to power in the state next year or whether it has to tweak its strategy in view of the JD(U)-RJD alliance. The future of the Nitish-Lalu tie-up will also be tested in the bypolls.
The bypolls were necessitated after five sitting members got elected to Lok Sabha whereas the others resigned due to political reasons at different points of time. The constituencies that will see bypolls are Narkatiaganj, Rajnagar (SC), Jale, Chapra, Hajipur, Mohiuddinagar, Parbatta, Bhagalpur, Banka and Mohania (SC). Sitting members in Chapra, Bhagalpur, Hajipur, Mohania and Narkatiaganj were elected to Lok Sabha.
Chikkodi-Sadalga, Bellary (ST) and Shikaripura assembly seats will go to polls in Karnataka while bypolls will take place at Vijayraghavgarh, Bahoriband and Agar (SC) in Madhya Pradesh.