New Delhi (Agency): The recently concluded bypolls in six Indian states have yielded mixed results, offering a nuanced snapshot of India’s current political landscape. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won three seats, opposition parties, collectively operating under the ‘INDIA bloc,’ secured victories in four out of the seven assembly seats up for grabs.
Samajwadi Party led the way by winning the Ghosi seat in Uttar Pradesh by a large margin of 42,759 votes. Party chief Akhilesh Yadav described it as a “victory” for the INDIA bloc and believes this momentum will continue into the Lok Sabha elections. The victory in Ghosi came after Dara Singh Chauhan, who initially won the seat as a Samajwadi Party candidate, switched back to the BJP.
Meanwhile, the BJP won seats in Tripura and Uttarakhand. “People have shown trust in PM’s ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas’ slogan,” said Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha. The BJP also retained the Bageshwar assembly seat in Uttarakhand by a narrow margin of 2,405 votes.
In West Bengal, Trinamool Congress defeated the BJP in Dhupguri by 4,309 votes. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee exclaimed, “BJP lost and INDIA party won,” signaling strong anti-BJP sentiments in certain regions. She also highlighted the significance of this win, stating, “North Bengal is totally with us.”
Congress, too, registered a win by retaining the Puthuppally seat in Kerala. Chandy Oommen, the son of the late former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, defeated the Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate by 37,719 votes. He vowed to continue his father’s “people-oriented” politics.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha secured the Dumri seat in Jharkhand by defeating the AJSU by 17,153 votes. These regional victories suggest a splintered opposition that could pose a challenge to the BJP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
These bypolls were viewed as especially significant because they offered a glimpse into the alliances and strategies that might play out in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, as well as the upcoming assembly elections in five states later this year.