Bypolls: BJP wins in UP's Rampur for first time; BJD bags Odisha's Padampur seat

The BJP on Thursday (December 8) won the Rampur Sadar Assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh for the first time as its candidate Akash Saxena defeated his nearest Samajwadi Party (SP) rival Asim Raja.

Bypoll to the Rampur Sadar seat, considered an Azam Khan stronghold, was necessitated after the SP leader was sentenced to three years in jail in a hate speech case, and subsequently disqualified as MLA.

Saxena, who won by a margin of 33,702 votes, has been handed over the winner’s certificate by the Returning officer.

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This is the first time the BJP has won the Rampur Sadar Assembly seat. Azam Khan cannot contest elections for the next six years due to his conviction. The bypoll was held on December 5.

Dimple Yadav victorious

In UP’s Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency, Samajwadi Party candidate Dimple Yadav defeated her nearest rival BJP candidate Raghuraj Singh Shakya by a margin of over 2,88,461 votes.

She thanked all party workers and dedicated the win to Netaji. The bypoll on the seat was necessitated following SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s death.

While Dimple Yadav, wife of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, has taken a lead of more than 3 lakh votes over her nearest rival BJP candidate Raghuraj Singh Shakya, RLD’s Madan Bhaiya is leading by over 8,486 votes in Khatauli over the BJP’s Rajkumar Saini, the Election Commission said.

In a tweet, Pragatisheel Samajwadi party (Lohia) founder Shivpal Singh Yadav thanked the people of Mainpuri and also his Assembly constituency Jaswant Nagar, which lies in it.

“We have taken a lead of one lakh and it will be historic as many rounds are left,” he said.

BJD wins in Odisha

Meanwhile, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) steamrolled to victory in Odisha’s Padampur bypoll, after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik unleashed his charisma on the tribal-dominated constituency by personally going down to campaign for his party’s rookie candidate Barsha Singh Bariha, who won the electoral battle against BJP’s Pradip Purohit by 42,679 votes.

BJP triumphs in Bihar

In Bihar, the BJP wrested from the state’s ruling Mahagathbandhan the Kurhani Assembly seat where its candidate Kedar Prasad Gupta defeated Manoj Singh Kushwaha of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) by 3,645 votes.

In the cliffhanger of a contest, Gupta polled 76,653 votes while Kushwaha finished with 73,008 votes.

The by-election was necessitated by the disqualification of RJD MLA Anil Kumar Sahani. The RJD is a constituent of the Mahagathbandhan.

Chattisgarh, Rajasthan bypolls

In Chattisgarh, the ruling Congress on Thursday won the Bhanupratappur Assembly bypoll, retaining the seat by defeating the BJP.

With this, the opposition BJP has suffered a fifth successive defeat at the hands of the ruling Congress in the assembly bypolls held after the 2018 Chhattisgarh elections.

Congress candidate Savitri Mandavi won the bypoll by a margin of 21,171 votes against her nearest rival Brahmanand Netam of the BJP, a poll official said. Mandavi polled 65,479 votes, while the BJP’s Netam secured 44,308 votes, he said.

Former IPS officer Akbar Ram Korram, who contested as an independent, gave a spirited fight and polled 23,417 votes.

A voter turnout of 71.74% was recorded in the bypoll to this seat, reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates and located in the Maoist-affected Kanker district.

The by-election was necessitated due to the death of sitting Congress MLA Manoj Singh Mandavi. The grand old party had fielded his wife.

In the Rajasthan Assembly bypoll, the ruling Congress won the Sadarshahar seat. The party’s Anil Sharma defeated BJP’s Ashok Kumar by 26,852 votes.

The bypoll was necessitated by the demise of Congress MLA Bhanwar Lal Sharma, who passed away on October 9 after prolonged illness.

Polling was held amid tight security arrangements across all 295 booths in the Assembly segment.

The Congress fielded Sharma’s son Anil.

(With agency inputs)