BJP headed for good haul in bypolls, leading in 21 seats in MP

The BJP has performed well in the Assembly bypolls held in 59 constituencies in 11 states, including 28 in Madhya Pradesh, by maintaining a lead in over 40 seats.

In Madhya Pradesh, the party is leading in 21 seats. It is also ahead in all the eight seats in Gujarat and six of the seven constituencies in Uttar Pradesh where bypolls were held. 

Counting is on for byelections held for five seats in Manipur, one each in Haryana, Telangana and Chhattisgarh, and two each in Jharkhand, Karnataka, Nagaland and Odisha.

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In Madhya Pradesh, the continuation of the BJP-led Shivraj Singh Chouhan government seems assured as the party, needing eight seats to ensure a simple majority in the 229-member Assembly, leads in 21 seats. The BJP currently has 107 MLAs. The Congress is ahead in six seats and the BSP in one, figures from the Election Commission said.

The bypolls were necessitated after Jyotiraditya Scindia switched loyalties from the Congress to the BJP, taking with him MLAs supporting him. This had resulted in the fall of the Congress government  that was led by Kamal Nath.

In Gujarat, the BJP has established leads in all eight seats that went to bypolls — Abdasa (Kutch), Limbdi (Surendranagar), Morbi (Morbi district), Dhari (Amreli), Gadhada (Botad), Karjan (Vadodara), Dang (Dang district) and Kaprada (Valsad). 

The party is also leading in six of the seven seats in Uttar Pradesh where bypolls were held. They are Naugaon Sadat, Tundla, Bangarmau, Bulandshahr, Deoria and Ghatampur. The Samajwadi Party is ahead in the Malhani, the seventh constituency.

In Manipur, the BJP has won two seats and leads in two others, while an Independent is leading in one seat. Like in Madhya Pradesh, here again, the bypolls in four seats were made necessary by the resignation of Congress MLAs who joined the BJP. 

The BJP has won the RR Nagar Assembly bypoll in Karnataka and is leading in Sira. It is also leading in Dumka in Jharkhand, where Congress is leading in the other seat Bermo. 

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In Odisha, the Biju Janata Dal is leading in both the Balasore and Tirtol seats, while in Chhattisgarh, the ruling Congress leads in Marwahi.

The NDDP candidate is ahead in the Southern Angami-I seat in Kohima and Independent leads in Pungro-Kiphire in Kiphire district of Nagaland.

The BJP leads in the Dubbak constituency in Telangana, and, in Haryana’s Baroda, the Congress was ahead.