In Madhya Pradesh, 22 of 28 seats became vacant after Jyotiraditya Scindia passed in March. (File)
New Delhi:
The results of the 56-seat Assembly (and one Lok Sabha) bypasses in a dozen states will be announced today, with the contests in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh among the most compelling. Half of the vacant seats are in Madhya Pradesh, where the result will be seen by many as a commentary on the BJP’s Jyotiraditya Scindia and the influence it may (or may not) have since leaving Congress in March. Seven seats will be filled in UP, with the one occupied by Kuldeep Singh Sengar of BJP being the highlight; it became vacant after he was convicted in the Unnao rape case in December of last year. Other states where bypasses took place – on November 3 – include Karnataka, Gujarat, Odisha and Telangana. Bypasses for seats in Manipur and a constituency of Lok Sabha in Bihar took place on November 7. All the elections were held against a backdrop of strict restrictions due to the Covid pandemic.
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22 of Madhya Pradesh’s 28 seats became vacant after the Jyotiraditya Scindia crossing in March, which sparked the fall of the Kamal Nath government and the return of the BJP. He will have to ensure that the deputies who resigned to support him are re-elected. 16 of these seats come from the Gwalior and Chambal regions of the state, which are widely regarded as strongholds of the Scindia family. The big story during the campaign was Kamal Nath’s remark on a former minister of Congress. The Election Commission removed him from his post as a “star activist”, but the Supreme Court suspended the order.
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The result is unlikely to affect the government of Shivraj Singh Chouhan; Congress has to win all 28 to even think about challenging the BJP. In politics, however, power and prestige go hand in hand, and Congress will be eager to reclaim as many surrendered seats as possible to reassert itself in the state. The BJP must win nine to claim a simple majority; it is currently supported by small parties and independents. Voting in the state was largely peaceful, with the exception of two reports of shooting at the Morena Sumawali headquarters.
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In the UP, the Samajwadi Party accused the BJP of electoral fraud and rigging. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav told the PTI news agency that Yogi Adityanath’s government “made an arrangement so that people could not cast their votes.” However, Yadav declined to give details. He said he would provide “detailed information” after the results were announced. Yogi Adityanath, criticized for his poor performance in women’s safety, spoke of “jihad in love” during his campaign and issued a thinly veiled threat of violence.
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The UP’s high-profile seat is Bangarmau, which was held by BJP’s Kuldeep Singh Sengar until his conviction in the Unnao rape case in December last year. The seat of Ghatampur has become vacant after the death of Kamal Rani Varun, Minister of State and victim of the new coronavirus. The bypass also marked the electoral debut of Bhim army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, who sharply criticized Yogi Adityanath’s government for the alleged gang rape in Hathras district, and whose convoy was reportedly shot down last month then. that he was campaigning for the siege of Bulandshahr. .
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Two seats are up for grabs in Karnataka – Sira in Tumakuru district and Rajarajeshwarinagar in Bengaluru – with Congress, JDS and BJP clashing in the two. The outcome will make no real difference – the BJP will remain in power – but competition between former JDS allies and Congress will be watched. The three parties have shown confidence and each thinks of winning both seats.
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In Gujarat, there are eight seats to be filled. All eight were held by Congress but became vacant after the incumbents left the ship at BJP ahead of Rajya Sabha’s election in June. Five of the eight BJP candidates in this election are former congressional leaders seeking to reclaim the seats they gave up. Congress, meanwhile, also alleged a “money-for-vote” scam in at least two booths and filed a complaint with the election official.
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The Odisha Assembly has two vacant seats – Balasore (held by the BJP) and Tirol (held by the ruling BJD). Further bypasses on November 3 were for one seat each in Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
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In Chattisgarh, Marwahi’s seat has become vacant following the death of former chief minister Ajit Jogi and will see a Congress-BJP fight. In Telangana, there will be a three-way fight for the seat of Dubbak between the BJP, the ruling TRS and Congress.
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Bypasses were also organized for two sieges in Nagaland, two in Jharkhand and one in Haryana. The BJP fielded Olympic wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt in the race for the seat of Baroda in the Sonipat district of Haryana; Mr Dutt lost the same seat in last year’s Assembly elections to Congressional Krishnan Hooda, who died in April.
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On November 7, four Manipur seats went to the polls. This was after the incumbents of Congress left to join the BJP. A bypoll for the Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha headquarters in Bihar also took place; the seat became vacant after the death of Baidyanath Mahto of the JDU in February.
With the contribution of PTI
