BJP registered an impressive win in the by-elections bagging 5 seats out of 10 seats where elections were held on 9 April. Fresh from a massive victory in the recently-held assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand BJP on 13 April, 2017 won the assembly by polls in Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Rajasthan.
By-elections were held in 11 Assembly constituencies in eight states, besides the Srinagar parliamentary seat. Two seats each are in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh and one each in West Bengal, Assam, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.
The thumping victory in the national capital Delhi was sweet music for the BJP ahead of the Delhi Municipal polls. The BJP registered a victory in the Rajouri Garden Assembly bypoll, handing a humiliating defeat to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, which finished a distant third and even lost its deposit.
BJP-SAD joint candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa bagged 40,602 votes, over 50 per cent of the total votes polled, in a boost for the BJP.
Congress’ Meenakshi Chandela finished second with 25,950 votes while AAP’s Harjeet Singh managed to get only 10,243 votes, less than one-sixth of the total votes polled.
In Madhya Pradesh, BJP retained the Bandhavgarh Assembly seat after defeating rival Congress by margin of over 25,000 votes while it was a close fight between Congress and BJP in Ater seat.
BJP nominee Shivnarayan Singh defeated Congress’ candidate Savitri Singh from the seat in Umaria district by 25,476 votes, an election official said.
In Himachal Pradesh, BJP candidate Dr. Anil Dhiman won the Bhoranj (SC) Assembly seat in Himachal Pradesh by 8,290 votes. The BJP candidate defeated his nearest Congress rival, Promila Devi by 8,290 votes. Dhiman polled 24,453 votes against 16,144 votes polled by Devi. With this, the strength of the BJP has increased to 28 in the 68-member House.
The showing was good for the party in Assam also where its candidate Ranoj Pegu won the Dhemaji Assembly by-election defeating his nearest Congress rival Babul Sonowal by 9,285 votes. While the BJP candidate polled 75,217 votes, his Congress rival garnered 65,932 votes.
In Rajasthan, BJP candidate Shobha Rani won by 22,602 votes after ten rounds of counting in the Dholpur Assembly bypoll.