The results of 13 bypolls for four Lok Sabha and nine Assembly seats were declared on Tuesday. The ruling parties in their respective states did well without exception. In Arunachal Pradesh, the North East Democratic Alliance candidate Dasanglu Pul, wife of former chief minister Kalikho Pul, won the Hayuliang seat in Anjaw district by 944 votes. She had contested on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket against independent candidate Yompi Kri.
In Assam, the BJP won both the Assembly and the Parliament seats. While it retained the Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat, which was vacated by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, the party gained the Baithalangso Assembly seat. The MLA from Baithalangso, Mansing Rongpi, had left the Congress for the BJP earlier this year.
In Madhya Pradesh, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Manju Dadu won the Nepanagar Assembly seat by 40,600 votes while BJP’s Gyan Singh was elected from the Lok Sabha seat of Shahdol. Both the seats were reserved for scheduled caste legislators.
In Tamil Nadu, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s M Rengasamy won the Thanjavur Assembly with 26,482 votes. The party also retained the Thiruparankundram and Aravakurich seats.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) won both the Barjala and Khowai constituencies in Tripura. In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress fared well with Saikat Panja winning the Monteswar Assembly seat and Dibyendu Adhikari taking the Tamluk Lok Sabha seat. Another TMC candidate, Partha Pratim Roy, also won the Cooch Behar Lok Sabha seat by 4,13,231 votes.
Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy won the Nellithoppu Assembly seat. A non-member of the House, he was is contesting against All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Om Sakhti Sekhar. Narayanasamy was backed by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
The elections, conducted on November 19, were the first political test for the BJP after the Centre decided to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged people’s support. “I thank people for the continued faith in BJP and in BJP’s unwavering focus on development and good governance,” he tweeted. Other leaders also took the opportunity to thank their voters. “The victory is a gift given by the voters and I feel immensely elated,” said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Her Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chouhan also sent out a similar message.
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