In the first set of bypolls to be held after the formation of the INDIA bloc of Opposition parties, held in seven seats in six States, the BJP won three seats, with the Opposition constituents of the INDIA bloc bagging four seats, including the crucial Ghosi Assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh which was won by the Samajwadi Party (SP).
Honours seemed evenly divided in the contest as of the seven seats where bypolls were held on September 5, three were earlier held by the BJP, and one each was with the Congress, the SP, the CPI(M) and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). While the overall tally looked the same as earlier, the BJP lost Dhupguri in West Bengal to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) but wrested Boxanagar in Tripura from the CPI(M).
The BJP retained the Bageshwar Assembly seat in Uttarakhand and Dhanpur in Tripura and managed to wrest Boxanagar Assembly seat from the CPI(M) in the northeastern State. BJP president J.P. Nadda hailed the party’s victories in Tripura and Uttarakhand, thanking the people of Tripura and terming the party’s victory in Tripura as “the reinforcing people’s faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for a developed and prosperous north-east.”
