Janjivan Bureau / Jaipur / Kolkata : The Congress on Thursday won all three bypoll seats–the Lok Sabha constituencies of Ajmer and Alwar and the Assembly seat of Mandalgarh–in Rajasthan.
In Alwar, Congress candidate Karan Singh Yadav won by a margin of over 1.44 lakh votes over his nearest rival, Jaswant Yadav from the BJP. Yadav is a minister in the government.
Congress candidate Raghu Sharma won the Ajmer Lok Sabha bypoll by a margin of 81,223 votes. He defeated Ramswaroop Lamba of the BJP.
The Congress also wrested the Mandalgarh Assembly seat from the ruling BJP as its candidate Vivek Dhakar trounced his nearest rival Shakti Singh Hada by 12,976 votes.
While Dhakar got 70,146 votes, Hada got 57,170 votes in the bypoll held on January 29. In Mandalgarh, Hada, Dhakar, and independent Gopal Malviya were the top contenders among eight candidates.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot said: “The voters have rejected the BJP government in the state and Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje should resign on moral ground owing to the defeat in all three seats.”
Former Congress chief minister and AICC general secretary Ashok Gehlot said: “The reverse counting of Modi rule had begun from Gujarat and now it is visible in Rajasthan.”
Rajput Sabha, Rajput Karni Sena, and Rawana Rajput organisations have hailed the victory of the Congress alleging that the BJP has met its own fate as it rejected the demands of the community people.
A total of 42 candidates were in the fray for the three seats.
Both the parties have campaigned aggressively, as the bypolls results were expected to reveal the mood for the Assembly polls ahead.
The bypolls were necessitated after the death of BJP MPs Sanwarlal Jat from Ajmer, Mahant Chand Nath Yogi from Alwar, and MLA Kirti Kumari from Mandalgarh.
WB: TMC wins Noapara, leads in Uluberia LS seat
West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress won the Noapara Assembly bypoll by defeating its nearest rival, the BJP, by 63,018 votes, the Election Commission said.
The Trinamool has also taken a lead in the Uluberia Lok Sabha seat.
“The TMC has won the Noapara by-election. The BJP secured second position and the CPI(M) came third,” said West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Aariz Aftab.
While TMC candidate Sunil Singh secured 1,01,729 votes in Noapara, the BJP’s Sandip Banerjee got 38,711 votes. The CPI (M)’s Gargi Chatterjee was at number three with 35,497 votes.
Counting of votes for the by-election in the Uluberia Lok Sabha seat is also underway with the TMC ahead by more than 4,700 votes.
