New Delhi: The BJP and the Trinamul Congress won two Lok Sabha seats each, claiming it was a vindication of their stand on the demonetisation issue, as ruling parties in six states and Union Territory Puducherry swept byelections, retaining most of the 10 Assembly seats up for grabs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked people for expressing “continued faith” in the BJP and its “unwavering focus on development and good governance” following his party’s success in the first elections after the government’s move to scrap high-value currencies.
West Bengal chief minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, however, termed the byelection result a mandate against the Centre’s decision to replace Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 banknotes.
The government has said people support the November 8 move despite some inconvenience as the target is black money, corruption and counterfeit currency. Opposition parties have claimed deaths in winding queues before banks and ATMs to deposit old notes or just to withdraw cash have turned people against the government.
“The by-election result is a befitting reply to the anti-people demonetisation. It’s a people’s revolt, rather a mass revolt against the Centre,” she said in Kolkata before leaving for Delhi to join the Opposition protests.
In the Assembly bypolls held on November 19, results of which were declared on Tuesday, the BJP and the AIADMK won three seats each, the CPI(M) got two, while the Congress and the Trinamool bagged one each.
The BJP won Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat in Assam, vacated by chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, and Shahdol Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh, both ruled by the party.
The Trinamool Congress swept Tamluk and Coochbehar Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal by whopping margins. The party also won Monteswar assembly seat with candidates of CPI(M), Congress and BJP losing their deposits.
In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP’s victory margin in Shahdol Lok Sabha came down to 60,000 from 2,41,301 in the 2014 general elections. It bagged Nepanagar Assembly seat, where it increased its winning margin to 42,198 votes as against 22,178.
Ruling Rules
In Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK, whose supremo Jayalalithaa is hospitalised for two months, retained Thanjavur and Thirupparankundram Assembly seats and wrested Aravakkurichi seat from DMK by margins ranging from 20,000 votes to 42,000.
The ruling CPI(M) in Tripura wrested Barjala (SC) seat from the Congress and retained Khowai.
Senior Congress leader and Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy won the bypoll to Nellithope Assembly seat defeating AIADMK’s Om Sakthi Segar by a margin of 11,144 votes.
North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) candidate Dasanglu Pul of the BJP won Hayuliang assembly bypoll in Arunachal Pradesh defeating her lone rival Yompi Kri, an independent candidate, by 942 votes.
