The BJP snatched Himachal Pradesh from Congress, retained Gujarat for the sixth successive term, wrested Pakke-Kessang and Likabali Assembly seats in Arunachal Pradesh and won Sikandara seat in Uttar Pradesh by-polls
It is saffron wave in the country again. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) snatched power from the Congress in Himachal Pradesh by winning 44 seats in 68-member Assembly. The ruling Congress was reduced to 21 seats only. Five time MLA Shri Jairam Thakuar was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Acharya Dev Vrat at historic Ridge Ground of Shimla on December 27 in the presence of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, BJP president Shri Amit Shah and a many senior party leaders and Union Ministers including Shri LK Advani, Shri Rajnath Singh and Shri Nitin Gadkari.
In Gujarat, the BJP successfully retained power for the sixth successive time winning 99 in the 182-member Assembly. Chief Minister Shri Vijay Rupani along with Deputy Chief Minister Shri Nitin Patel and total of 19 Ministers were sworn in by Governor Prof Om Prakash Kohli on December 26.
In by-polls also, the BJP won Sikandara Assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh and wrested both Pakke-Kessang and Likabali Assembly seats in Arunachal Pradesh from Congress. On the other hand the Congress lost both in West Bengal and the high profile RK Nagar constituency in Chennai. In West Bengal, though the BJP was not able to win the Sabang Assembly seat, but its vote share increased from 2.24% in 2014 to 18.07%.
IN Chennai, TTV Dinakaran, nephew of jailed VK Sasikala (Chinnamma) won the RK Nagar assembly constituency. During his election he had claimed that he would be elected to succeed “Amma” (the late Jayalalithaa), who represented the constituency twice. And Dinakaran polled more votes than Jayalalithaa had gained.
After the death of Jayalalithaa the AIADMK was divided into many factions and all the factions continue to dominate each other. Now the factions of O Paneer Selvam and Edapadi K Palanisamy joined hands but the fight for dominance by Sasikala factions still continues. Now with the victory of Dinakaran her faction is being seen in strong position. After the by-poll results Dinakaran said, “We are the true AIADMK. People of RK Nagar have elected Amma”s successor.” He also sought to make light of the K Palaniswami camp winning the Two Leaves symbol after both camps staked claim for it before the Election Commission. “This is the best gift for the 1.5 crore party supporters” on the 30th death anniversary (24th December) of party founder, the late MGR. Dinakaran said the Palaniswami government will end in three months.” Dinakaran”s victory also smashed Stalin”s dream of capturing power en-cashing the infighting in the party. Dinakaran’s win against all odds, including loss of Two Leaves symbol and a slew of cases against him, is being viewed as a worrying development both for AIADMK and opposition DMK.
Making inroads into Red Bastion Asim Kumar Mitra Sometimes it has been felt that BJP cannot make inroads in once known as ‘communist bastion’ i.e. West Bengal. But the new leadership of BJP has proved it time and again that they are not lagging behind. It is definitely on the winning spree with new and newer grounds which are creating heart breaking shocks for the opposition parties including the ruling party of the state, TMC. The latest bye election to Sabang assembly constituency where Smt Gita Bhunia, wife of Dr Manas Bhuniya, who defected from Congress and joined TMC, contested the bye election and won the election with a slender majority. BJP could not win the election. But its vote share has increased tremendously. |
The by-poll result was crucial for the AIADMK government as it has the support of only 111 MLAs in a House which has an effective strength of 234 seats. RK Nagar by-poll result would be treated as a report card of the ruling AIADMK, which has been on shaky legs following the death of former TN CM Jayalalithaa in December 2016. All the poll promises made by late CM Jayalalithaa during 2016 assembly polls are yet to be fulfilled. This has angered the voters. It is first defeat after the demise of Jayalalithaa. Notably an independent candidate won. Multi party alliance, Special Court”s clean chit in 2G scam to Kanimozhie and A Raja coming on polling day, failed to garner votes for DMK and its candidate lost deposit to an independent.
(Organiser Bureau with inputs from TS Venkatesan in Chennai)
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