By-election results: TMC sweeps West Bengal; RJD triumphs in Bihar
The counting of votes for the recently concluded by-elections for one Lok Sabha seat and four Assembly seats took place on Saturday. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) has reportedly won from both the state's Asansol Lok Sabha and Ballygunge Assembly constituencies. Meanwhile, Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won Bihar's Bochahan Assembly seat by a margin of over 36,000 votes.
The TMC fielded actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha from the Asansol Lok Sabha constituency who reportedly won against BJP's Agnimitra Paul with a margin of two lakh votes. With this, Banerjee-led TMC has broken the Asansol jinx, as the party had never won from this Lok Sabha seat before. Also, the TMC's Babul Supriyo—who defected from the BJP—won the Ballygunge Assembly seat by over 20,000 votes.
To note, Supriyo held the Asansol LS seat from BJP earlier but it became vacant after he joined the TMC. Meanwhile, the demise of WB cabinet minister Subrata Mukherjee necessitated the Ballygunge Assembly seat by-election. Banerjee has thanked voters for a "decisive mandate" in the two constituencies as both of her party's candidates emerged winners.
The RJD has won the Bochahan Assembly seat in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, which became vacant following the demise of MLA Musafir Paswan. The party had fielded Amar Kumar Paswan from the constituency who won over BJP's Baby Kumari by over 36,000 votes. Notably, Amar Kumar is the son of Musafir Paswan, who had held the seat on a Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) ticket.
According to reports, a section of the upper castes, along with a large number of Dalits and extremely backward castes, was dissatisfied with the BJP because of the treatment meted out to senior leaders from the Muzaffarpur area.
The Congress is reportedly ahead in the Khairagarh Assembly by-elections in Chhattisgarh with a margin of 20,000 votes. The ruling Congress in the state is counting on its promise to create a new district in Khairagarh. The death of Devwrat Singh, a Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (Jogi) MLA who passed away in November, prompted the by-elections. Singh was a member of the Khairagarh royal family.
The Congress is reportedly in the lead in the Kolhapur North Assembly seat of western Maharashtra, too. There were 15 candidates in the race, but the main battle is between the Congress, one of the constituents of the state's Maha Vikas Aghadi government, and the opposition BJP. The Congress's Jayashree Jadhav is currently leading by more than 18,000 votes against the BJP's Satyajit Kadam.
