LS by-polls: Cong snatches MP seat from BJP
By Lakshmi Iyer and P Pavan
The Congress leadership was upbeat on Tuesday after it wrested the Ratlam-Jhabua Lok Sabha seat from the BJP in Madhya Pradesh in a by-election. In Telangana, the TRS candidate registered victory with a margin of over 4.6 lakh votes from Warangal.
With its latest win, which comes close on the heels of an excellent show in Bihar assembly polls (it won 27 seats), the Congress’ number in the Lok Sabha has gone up to 45. Kantilal Bhuria, the Congress candidate from Jhabua, made a comeback, after losing the assembly polls to BJP candidate Nirmala Bhuria, sitting MLA from Petlawad, a year ago.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held 27 rallies in six days to ensure his party’s victory. However, the efforts failed to persuade voters in this reserved constituency for ST.
When asked what went against the BJP, which had won 27 of the 29 seats in 2014 General Elections, party spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said: “Ratlam-Jhabua is one of the three traditional Congress seats. Even in 1977, at the height of anti-Congress wave, it was with the Congress.”
Party sources said the tribals are so attached to the Congress that they even called the BJP ‘phul wala Congress’ (because of its lotus symbol).
Rao said it was because of Modi wave the seat had come to the BJP in 2014. “All the seven sitting MLAs in the parliamentary constituency are also with the BJP.” He, however, denied that losing Ratlam was a setback to the BJP in MP. “We retained Dewas assembly seat by a huge margin.”
To buttress his stand, the spokesperson pointed out how the BJP had made a debut in Manipur by winning two assembly seats in the by-elections. Senior party leaders said it was incorrect to say that the Modi wave had ebbed. “There is nothing more to this party than the towering persona of the PM,” said a leader.
BJP MAN LOSES DEPOSIT
BJP’s foreign-returned P Devaiah lost his deposit as Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) candidate Pusunuri Dayakar won the Warangal Lok Sabha seat with a margin of nearly 4.6 lakh votes on Tuesday. Two-time MP and Congress candidate Sarve Satyanarayana was reduced to second place. TRS president and Telangana CM K Chandrasekhara Rao termed the result a verdict of the people on their governance. “We will continue to live up to the people’s expectations.”
The Congress leadership was upbeat on Tuesday after it wrested the Ratlam-Jhabua Lok Sabha seat from the BJP in Madhya Pradesh in a by-election. In Telangana, the TRS candidate registered victory with a margin of over 4.6 lakh votes from Warangal.
With its latest win, which comes close on the heels of an excellent show in Bihar assembly polls (it won 27 seats), the Congress’ number in the Lok Sabha has gone up to 45. Kantilal Bhuria, the Congress candidate from Jhabua, made a comeback, after losing the assembly polls to BJP candidate Nirmala Bhuria, sitting MLA from Petlawad, a year ago.
It was death of Bhuria’s father, the popular Dilip Singh Bhuria, in June that had prompted the by-election. Hoping to cash in on sympathy factor, the BJP had fielded Nirmala.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held 27 rallies in six days to ensure his party’s victory. However, the efforts failed to persuade voters in this reserved constituency for ST.
When asked what went against the BJP, which had won 27 of the 29 seats in 2014 General Elections, party spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said: “Ratlam-Jhabua is one of the three traditional Congress seats. Even in 1977, at the height of anti-Congress wave, it was with the Congress.”
Party sources said the tribals are so attached to the Congress that they even called the BJP ‘phul wala Congress’ (because of its lotus symbol).
Rao said it was because of Modi wave the seat had come to the BJP in 2014. “All the seven sitting MLAs in the parliamentary constituency are also with the BJP.” He, however, denied that losing Ratlam was a setback to the BJP in MP. “We retained Dewas assembly seat by a huge margin.”
To buttress his stand, the spokesperson pointed out how the BJP had made a debut in Manipur by winning two assembly seats in the by-elections. Senior party leaders said it was incorrect to say that the Modi wave had ebbed. “There is nothing more to this party than the towering persona of the PM,” said a leader.
BJP MAN LOSES DEPOSIT
BJP’s foreign-returned P Devaiah lost his deposit as Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) candidate Pusunuri Dayakar won the Warangal Lok Sabha seat with a margin of nearly 4.6 lakh votes on Tuesday. Two-time MP and Congress candidate Sarve Satyanarayana was reduced to second place. TRS president and Telangana CM K Chandrasekhara Rao termed the result a verdict of the people on their governance. “We will continue to live up to the people’s expectations.”
