Political parties keep their fingers crossed as counting is underway for by-elections to four Lok Sabha seats and 10 Assembly constituencies on Thursday. The results will be a litmus test for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a positive outcome is necessary for the saffron party to maintain its majority in the Lok Sabha. The results will also test the mettle of a united opposition with that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
LOKSABHA BYPOLLS
1) Kairana, Uttar Pradesh: Rashtriya Lok Dal's Tabassum Hasan won the seat by a margin of 44,618 votes. Tabassum polled 4,81,182 votes, while the BJP's Mriganka Singh got 4,36,564 votes. The RLD candidate, who was supported by the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, established an almost invincible lead by noon.
2) Palghar, Maharashtra: In a jolt to its ally Shiv Sena which had "hijacked" the family of its late MP, its ally Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday won the bypoll to Maharashtra's Palghar Lok Sabha seat. BJP's Rajendra Gavit defeated his nearest rival, Shriniwas Vanga of the Sena and the son of sitting MP Chintaman Vanga, whose death in January had necessitated the bypoll. As per available figures, Gavit secured a little over 272,000 votes compared to Vanga's 243,000 votes.
3) Bhandara–Gondiya: The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) today wrested the Bhandara-Gondiya Lok Sabha seat from the BJP. NCP's Madhukar Kukade defeated Hemant Patle of BJP by 48,097 votes in the bypolls. The NCP nominee polled 4,42,213 votes against the BJP candidate's 3,94,116. The result takes NCP's tally of Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra to five, while the number of BJP Lok Sabha members from the state was reduced to 22.
4) Nagaland: Ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), a BJP ally, today won the lone Nagaland Lok Sabha seat in the bypoll, defeating rival NPF nominee by a huge margin of over 1.73 lakh votes. NDPP nominee Tokheho Yepthomi, representing the ruling PDA (People's Democratic Alliance) in Nagaland, defeated NPF nominee C. Apok Jamir by 1,73,746 votes in the byelection. Yepthomi polled 5,94,205 votes against the only opposition Naga People's Front (NPF) nominee Jamir who bagged 4,20,459 votes.
ASSEMBLY BYPOLLS
1) Noorpur, Uttar Pradesh: The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Thursday wrested Uttar Pradesh's Noorpur assembly seat from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). SP's Naeem-ul-Hasan polled 94,866 votes, against 89,188 obtained by his nearest rival, Avni Singh of the BJP in the bypoll to the assembly constituency in Binore district.
2) Chengannur, Kerala: CPI-M candidate Saji Cherian on Thursday won with one of the biggest margins from the Chengannur assembly constituency as he defeated Congress' D. Vijayakumar by 20,956 votes. At the end of the counting process in the 182 polling booths, Cherian secured 67,303 votes, Vijayakumar got 46,347 and BJP's P.S. Sreedharan Pillai finished third with 35,270 votes.
3) RR Nagar, Karnataka: Congress candidate Munirathna won from the Rajarajeshwari Nagar (RR Nagar) assembly constituency by 41,162 votes . Munirathna was contesting against GH Ramachandra of JD(S) and Tulasi Muniraju Gowda of BJP. The constituency was scheduled to go to polls on May 12 along with the other 222 constituencies of Karnataka but was postponed due to reports of an alleged fake voter ID scam.
4) Jokihat, Bihar: The opposition RJD has wrested the Jokihat Assembly seat from the ruling JD-U in Bihar. RJD candidate Shahnawaz Alam won the seat by over 41,000 votes. The Jokikhat seat fell vacant following the resignation of JD-U MLA Sarfaraz Alam, who joined the RJD.
5) Gomia, Jharkhand: JMM's candidate Babita Devi defeated AJSU nominee Lambodar Mahto by 13,00 votes while BJP's nominee Madhavlal Singh stood third on the seat.
6) Silli, Jharkhand: JMM's Seema Mahto defeated AJSU chief and former state Deputy Chief Minister Sudesh Mahto by 13,000 votes. The bypolls were necessitated following the conviction of the JMM MLAs Yogendra Mahto and Amit Mahto.
7) Maheshtala, West Bengal: The ruling Trinamool Congress won the Maheshtala assembly bypoll defeating its nearest rival, the BJP, by a margin of 62,831 votes. TMC candidate Dulal Das secured 104,818 votes against 41,987 by BJP's Sujit Ghosh.
8) Shahkot, Punjab: The ruling Congress won the Shahkot Assembly byelection on Thursday by a huge margin of over 38,800 votes, wresting the Shiromani Akali Dal stronghold after over 20 years. Congress' Hardev Singh Ladi Sherowalia got 82,745 votes against the 43,944 votes polled by his Akali Dal rival Naib Singh Koha.
9) Ampati, Meghalaya: The opposition Congress retained the Ampati Assembly seat in Meghalaya on Thursday by a margin of over 3,000 votes, officials said. With this victory, the Congress has increased its strength to 21 and emerged as the single largest party in the 60-member Meghalaya assembly. Congress' candidate Miani Dalbot Shira secured 14,259 votes, while her nearest rival Clement Momin of the ruling National People's Party bagged the 11,068 votes.
10) Tharali, Uttarakhand: The BJP retained the Tharali assembly seat in Uttarakhand with party nominee Munni Devi Shah defeating her Congress rival Jeetram by over 1,900 votes. With the BJP 's victory in Tharali, the number of party MLAs in the 70-member Uttarakhand assembly once again rose to 57. Munni Devi Shah is the widow of BJP's Maganlal Shah whose death necessitated the bypoll.
11) Palus Kadegaon, Maharashtra: Vishwajeet Patangrao of Congress won the Palus Kadegaon seat