INDIA Bloc Secures Key Wins in Assembly Bypolls Across Seven States

New Delhi, July 13 ‘2024: The recent bypolls in 13 Assembly constituencies across seven states marked the first electoral exercise since the Lok Sabha elections. The results have reinforced the political landscape, with the INDIA bloc making significant gains.

1. Himachal Pradesh: Kamlesh Thakur, the wife of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, won the Dehra assembly bypoll, defeating BJP’s Hoshyar Singh by over 9,000 votes. Hardeep Singh Bawa from the Congress also secured a victory in Nalagarh, while the BJP won in Hamirpur.
2. Punjab: AAP’s Mohinder Bhagat won the Jalandhar West assembly segment by a margin of more than 30,000 votes.
3. West Bengal: The Trinamool Congress, led by Mamata Banerjee, won the Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, and Bagda bypolls and is leading in the remaining seat.
4. Uttarakhand: The BJP is trailing in Manglaur, a constituency dominated by Muslim and Dalit voters, and in Badrinath.
5. Bihar: The bypoll was triggered by the resignation of Bima Bharti from JD(U). The party is currently leading in the seat, which she vacated to contest the Lok Sabha elections on an RJD ticket.
6. Tamil Nadu: In the Vikravandi assembly constituency, DMK’s candidate Anniyur Siva is leading against PMK’s C Anbumani and NTK’s K Abinaya.
7. Madhya Pradesh: In the Amarwara assembly seat, a stronghold of former Chief Minister Kamal Nath, BJP’s Kamlesh Shah is currently leading over Congress’ Dheeran Shah Invati.

The voting covered 13 Assembly seats: Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagda, and Maniktala in West Bengal; Dehra, Hamirpur, and Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh; Badrinath and Manglaur in Uttarakhand; Jalandhar West in Punjab; Rupauli in Bihar; Vikravandi in Tamil Nadu; and Amarwara in Madhya Pradesh. Of these, four states are governed by INDIA bloc constituents, while the others have BJP or NDA governments.

These bypolls followed the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where the BJP won 240 seats, falling short of the majority. However, the NDA reached the majority with a total of 293 seats, while the Congress-led INDIA bloc secured 232 seats.