New Delhi:
The by-elections to 31 Assembly and 1 Lok Sabha seats across seven states have not made much difference to electoral math in Houses. But two women have emphatically proved their hold in their respective states. (Read: Results of by-elections in seven states)
In Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati made crucial inroads into Mulayam Singh Yadav territory with the BSP sweeping nine out of the 11 seats for which by-elections were held on Saturday. In doing so she also snatched from the Congress its two seats and its warm buzz about the Rahul wave in UP from just six months ago.
Behenji's BSP has won nine of the seats for which results are in. The Congress has lost the two it had - Padrauna and Jhansi - but has won Lucknow West, while an Independent has won one. Mulayam Singh's Samajwadi Party, which had five of these seats last time, has none.
Mayawati, who has been battling court reprimands and other crises, will no doubt tout this win as a reflection on two-and-a-half years of governance in UP. She did not campaign at all for these seats and that makes the win even more significant. Clearly, the Maya magic worked more than the Rahul effect. (Read: Behenji wins big in Uttar Pradesh)
Some comfort for the Congress came from Firozabad where the Lok Sabha by-election was won by veteran actor Raj Babbar. He defeated Dimple Yadav, daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh Yadav by 85,343 votes. This was another blow to Mulayam, whose son Akhilesh had won the seat in the Lok Sabha elections this year. (Read: Raj Babbar defeats Mulayam's bahu)
In West Bengal, it was Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress that added to its electoral successes this year. The Trinamool has won seven seats, a gain of two from last time. The Congress has held on to one of the two seats it had won last time. But the Left, which had won three of the seats, has won only one. In fact, the sole Left seat is Goalpokhar which the Forward Bloc has taken from the Congress. The combine lost all the three seats it had won last time. (Read: Mamata didi destroys Left in Bengal)
Assembly elections are not far in West Bengal and all parties were testing the waters with these by-elections. The Left had won big last time, and even after today's debacle, has 225 of the 294 seats in the Assembly. But repeated bad shows recently point to a fast eroding support base. Victory will be sweeter for Mamata as the days preceding the by-elections saw the CPM and Trinamool slugging it out.
It was, in fact, a bad day for the Left. The LDF suffered a blow in the politically-sensitive Kannur in Kerala, where Congress candidate and former CPI-M MP AP Abdullakutty emerged victorious. The Congress also won the two other seats in the state - Ernakulam and Alappuzha - where by-elections were held.
Like in UP and West Bengal, the Kerala results will not impact numbers the stability of the LDF government, but these by-elections were being seen as a dress rehearsal for the 2011 Assembly polls, to be preceded by the civic elections next year. (Read: Left bereft in Kerala as Congress takes all 3)
The by-elections to two seats in Himachal Pradesh threw up a mixed result with both the Congress and the BJP winning one seat a piece. The BJP took Rohroo from the Congress and gave up Jawali.
In winning Rohroo, though, the BJP created a small bit of history. It has won the seat after 35 years - Union Steel Minister Vibhadra Singh represented the constituency for 19 years, before moving to Delhi.
In Rajasthan, BJP candidate Ramesh Meena wrested the Todabheem assembly seat from an Independent, while the Congress retained Salumber.
The Congress also seemed comfortable in Assam, winning Dhekiajuli and leading in South Salmara.
In Chhattisgarh, the Congress won the Vaishali Nagar assembly seat.
In Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati made crucial inroads into Mulayam Singh Yadav territory with the BSP sweeping nine out of the 11 seats for which by-elections were held on Saturday. In doing so she also snatched from the Congress its two seats and its warm buzz about the Rahul wave in UP from just six months ago.
Behenji's BSP has won nine of the seats for which results are in. The Congress has lost the two it had - Padrauna and Jhansi - but has won Lucknow West, while an Independent has won one. Mulayam Singh's Samajwadi Party, which had five of these seats last time, has none.
Mayawati, who has been battling court reprimands and other crises, will no doubt tout this win as a reflection on two-and-a-half years of governance in UP. She did not campaign at all for these seats and that makes the win even more significant. Clearly, the Maya magic worked more than the Rahul effect. (Read: Behenji wins big in Uttar Pradesh)
Some comfort for the Congress came from Firozabad where the Lok Sabha by-election was won by veteran actor Raj Babbar. He defeated Dimple Yadav, daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh Yadav by 85,343 votes. This was another blow to Mulayam, whose son Akhilesh had won the seat in the Lok Sabha elections this year. (Read: Raj Babbar defeats Mulayam's bahu)
In West Bengal, it was Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress that added to its electoral successes this year. The Trinamool has won seven seats, a gain of two from last time. The Congress has held on to one of the two seats it had won last time. But the Left, which had won three of the seats, has won only one. In fact, the sole Left seat is Goalpokhar which the Forward Bloc has taken from the Congress. The combine lost all the three seats it had won last time. (Read: Mamata didi destroys Left in Bengal)
Assembly elections are not far in West Bengal and all parties were testing the waters with these by-elections. The Left had won big last time, and even after today's debacle, has 225 of the 294 seats in the Assembly. But repeated bad shows recently point to a fast eroding support base. Victory will be sweeter for Mamata as the days preceding the by-elections saw the CPM and Trinamool slugging it out.
It was, in fact, a bad day for the Left. The LDF suffered a blow in the politically-sensitive Kannur in Kerala, where Congress candidate and former CPI-M MP AP Abdullakutty emerged victorious. The Congress also won the two other seats in the state - Ernakulam and Alappuzha - where by-elections were held.
Like in UP and West Bengal, the Kerala results will not impact numbers the stability of the LDF government, but these by-elections were being seen as a dress rehearsal for the 2011 Assembly polls, to be preceded by the civic elections next year. (Read: Left bereft in Kerala as Congress takes all 3)
The by-elections to two seats in Himachal Pradesh threw up a mixed result with both the Congress and the BJP winning one seat a piece. The BJP took Rohroo from the Congress and gave up Jawali.
In winning Rohroo, though, the BJP created a small bit of history. It has won the seat after 35 years - Union Steel Minister Vibhadra Singh represented the constituency for 19 years, before moving to Delhi.
In Rajasthan, BJP candidate Ramesh Meena wrested the Todabheem assembly seat from an Independent, while the Congress retained Salumber.
The Congress also seemed comfortable in Assam, winning Dhekiajuli and leading in South Salmara.
In Chhattisgarh, the Congress won the Vaishali Nagar assembly seat.
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