In seven States, where by-elections were held on July 10 and results reported on July 13, INDIA bloc parties emerged victorious in ten of the thirteen Assembly seats. This popular verdict mostly confirms the outcomes of the recent Lok Sabha election, which indicated public dissatisfaction with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The results of the by-election show that there is some grassroots opposition to the BJP’s policies. Himachal Pradesh is noteworthy in particular since the Congress won two of the three Assembly seats that were left empty after three independent lawmakers resigned their seats and joined the BJP.
In February, the administration of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was on the verge of collapse when six Congress members and three independents supported a BJP candidate in a Rajya Sabha election.
They were later excluded from the Assembly following the Rajya Sabha poll defeat of Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi. As a result, the party’s number in the 68-member House had dropped to 34.
After winning in Dehra and Nalagarh, the Congress is back to having 40 MLAs as it was before. On June 4, the Congress secured four out of the six seats that were up for by-elections in conjunction with the 2024 Lok Sabha election, giving the Sukhu government a majority.
The people of Himachal Pradesh have resisted the BJP’s overreach and the defectors’ opportunism by increasing the number of Congress members.
The Congress was able to hold onto the Badrinath seat in Uttarakhand, too.
Congressman Lakhapat Singh Butola beat the seat’s current MLA, Rajendra Singh Bhauri, who had turned against the BJP in power. Not that the masses are rejecting defectors in general. In Madhya Pradesh, where Kamlesh Pratap Shah—who had defected to the BJP—won a close race against his old party, the Congress kept losing.
The party is receiving a strong indication from the State Congress’s ongoing deterioration that it needs to go beyond the current local leadership. While the Trinamool Congress (TMC) maintained its dominance in West Bengal by capturing three seats from the BJP in Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, and Bagda, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s victory in Tamil Nadu’s Vikravandi seat further solidified its stronghold. The TMC, the State’s ruling party, has gained the support of MLAs from the saffron party in each of the three seats. The Maniktala seat was also maintained by the TMC.
The BJP gave the Aam Aadmi party in Punjab its due when they defeated the incumbent MLA in Jalandhar West, who had joined the party and asked to run for reelection. All sides should pay attention to the people’s voice, work towards agreement to avoid conflict, and avoid opportunistic defections.
ABHISHEK VERMA
Author: This news is edited by: Abhishek Verma, (Editor, CANON TIMES)
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