"Our Vote Percentage Has Increased": Priyanka Gandhi On UP Bypolls

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today praised her party for fighting back in the Haryana and Maharashtra elections and bypolls in several states, including Uttar Pradesh.

"I haven't seen the latest trends, really happy at both (Haryana and Maharashtra). We also are happy about the fact that here in UP our vote percentage has increased," Priyanka Gandhi said, according to news agency ANI.

Bypolls were held on 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh, six seats in Gujarat, Bihar (five seats), Assam and Punjab (four seats each), Kerala (five seats), Sikkim (three seats), Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (two seats each) and one seat each in Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry, Meghalaya and Telangana.

Of the 11 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, the ruling BJP and ally Apna Dal (S) are ahead in eight seats. The BJP is leading in seven seats and ally Apna Dal (S) in one. The Samajwadi Party is ahead in two, while the Bahujan Samaj Party is leading in the remaining seat.

In Haryana, the BJP is ahead in 40 of the state's 90 seats and the Congress is leading in 31. The majority mark is at 46. The Congress, galvanised by the unexpected trends, has reached out to Dushyant Chautala, the chief of thb newly formed Jannayak Janata Party (JJP). "The way these trends are showing, it is clear people voted for change," Mr Chautala told NDTV, adding, "The keys to the next government will be in the hands of the JJP."

The Congress is still struggling to find its feet after the devastating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections and the subsequent leadership vacuum as Rahul Gandhi quit the party's top post. While the BJP deployed a galaxy of leaders -- led by PM Modi and Amit Shah -- to campaign, Rahul Gandhi addressed just seven rallies. His mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi addressed none.

With inputs from ANI