Bypolls Results: BJP Victorious in 4 Seats; TRS Wins High-stakes Munugode, RJD Retains Mokama

The Mokama by-election was won by Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Neelam Devi, who was also the Mahagathbandhan candidate, while the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kusum Devi, who is a widow of the ex-MLA Subhash Singh (whose death led to the seat being vacant), won the Gopalganj election. READ MORE

TRS working president KT Rama Rao thanked the people of Munugode for supporting TRS party. “This by-election was forced on Munugode people by Delhi bosses – HM Amit Shah & PM Modi,” he said.

Telangana BJP chief Bandi Sanjay on Friday BJP candidate Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy fought Munugode election like a hero.

“We will respect the verdict of the people of Munugode. BJP candidate Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy fought this election like a hero. No matter how many threats were made by the ruling party, BJP workers worked unyieldingly,” he said.

BJP Munugode candidate Rajagopal Reddy, who lost Munugode bypoll, said that the state government used its power and threatened him.

Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav said that the RJD has made a dent in BJP’s core votes in Gopalganj bypoll. “In Gopalganj, where we used to lose by a margin of 40,000 votes in 2020, we lost only by 1,794 votes this time, despite them (BJP) having sympathy factor… We’ve made a dent in BJP’s core votes. Next time, we’ll lead by 20,000 votes,” he said.

After his party’s Rutuja Latke won Andheri by-election, Uddhav Thackeray said it is beginning of their victory. “Despite conspiracies against us we won by-election. It’s beginning of our victory. Our name and symbol were frozen, it’s foolish to speak about those due to whom our party’s symbol and name were frozen,” he said.

BJP workers celebrated the victory of BJP candidate Suryabanshi Suraj in Dhamnagar by-election.

BJP candidate Suryabanshi Suraj won Dhamnagar by-election in Odisha by a margin of 9,881 votes.

BJP candidate Kusum Devi won the bye-election in Bihar’s Gopalganj by a narrow margin of 1,794 votes. She received 70,053 votes while her rival RJD’s Mohan Gupta got 68,258 votes.

RJD’s Neelam Devi won Mokama bypoll by a margin of over 16,000 votes. She got 79,744 votes while BJP’s Sonam Devi received 63,003 votes.

BJP candidate Rajagopal Reddy conceded defeat in Munugode bypoll and said he respects people’s verdict but calls TRS victory ‘adharmic’. After 12 rounds of counting, TRS got 81,825, BJP (74,225) and Congress (21,218).

TRS is leading with over 4000 votes in Munugode bypoll as the counting of votes is underway. After round 10 of voting, TRS got 67,363 and the BJP secured 62,923.

The bypoll took place after sitting Congress MLA Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy’s resignation. Reddy contested the polls on BJP’s ticket. The main contest is between Raj Gopal Reddy (BJP), former MLA Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy of TRS and Congress’ Palvai Sravanthi.

Rutuja Latke, candidate of Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, is leading with 66,530 votes in the Andheri East bypoll. She said this victory is of her husband and the development works he did in Andheri.

The by-election was necessitated due to the death of Latke’s husband and Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke in May. BJP, Congress and the NCP did not field their candidates for the bypoll.

After winning the Gopalganj by-election, BJP’s Kusum Devi said she will carry forward the development work that did not get completed.

RJD’s Neelam Devi, who won Mokama by-poll, said that this is the win of the people of Mokama and the defeat of BJP’s pride.

In Bihar, RJD candidate Neelam Devi won the Mokama seat by more than 16,000 votes. The by-poll was necessitated after the disqualification of her husband MLA Anant Kumar Singh.

The BJP on Sunday won three seats in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, while the RJD retained the Mokama assembly seat in the bypolls to seven assembly constituencies in six states. Rutuja Latke, the candidate of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), won the bypoll to Andheri (East) Assembly seat in Mumbai, while the TRS maintained a slender lead over the BJP in Munugodu in Telangana.

The BJP retained the Gola Gokarannath assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh with its candidate Aman Giri defeating his nearest rival and Samajwadi Party candidate by over 34,000 votes.

The Gola Gokarannath seat fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Arvind Giri on September 6.

After winning the elections, Giri said he would fulfil the dream of his father Arvind Giri and ensure development of the constituency.

The BJP also won Adampur in Haryana with its candidate Bhavya Bishnoi defeating his nearest rival and Congress candidate Jai Prakash by a margin of around 16,000 votes.

With the win, former chief minister Bhajan Lal’s family has maintained its winning streak in the assembly segment. Bhavya is Bhajan Lal’s grandson.

The Adampur seat has been held by the Bhajan Lal family since 1968, with the late ex-chief minister representing it on nine occasions, his wife Jasma Devi once, and younger son Kuldeep Bishnoi on four occasions.

The by-election was necessitated after Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned as MLA from the seat and switched from the Congress to the BJP in August.

In Bihar, RJD candidate Neelam Devi won the Mokama seat by more than 16,000 votes. The by-poll was necessitated after the disqualification of her husband MLA Anant Kumar Singh.

Rutuja Latke, the candidate of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), on Sunday won the bypoll to Andheri (East) Assembly seat in Mumbai, an official said.

The November 3 byelection, necessitated due to the death of sitting Shiv Sena MLA and Rutuja Latke’s Ramesh Latke in May this year, was a mere formality after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) withdrew its candidate from the race.

This was the first electoral contest in Maharashtra after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government collapsed in June following a revolt by a section of Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde.

Shinde subsequently became chief minister in an alliance with the BJP.

BJP candidate Aman Giri won the Gola Gokarannath assembly bypolls on Sunday by defeating his nearest rival and Samajwadi Party candidate by over 34,000 votes, a senior official said.

The final votes are being computed, the official said.

After winning the elections, Giri said he would fulfil the dream of his father Arvind Giri and ensure development of the constituency.

He also thanked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for promising to develop Gola as ‘Chhota Kashi’ Till the 29th round of counting, Giri had got 1,14,444 votes while Samajwadi Party’s Vinay Tiwari got 81,682 votes, they said.

Rutuja Latke, the candidate of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), was on course for a comfortable win in the bypoll to Andheri (East) Assembly seat in Mumbai by bagging more than 37,000 votes out of the 49,616 votes counted so far on Sunday, followed by 7,556 votes polled in favour of the None of the Above (NOTA) option.

So far, 10 rounds of counting have been completed, an official said.

The November 3 byelection, necessitated due to the death of sitting Shiv Sena MLA and Rutuja Latke’s Ramesh Latke in May this year, was a mere formality after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) withdrew its candidate from the race.

At the end of the 10th round of counting, Rutuja Latke bagged 37,469 votes out of the 49,616 votes counted so far.

As many as 7,556 votes were so far polled in favour of the NOTA option, leaving the six other independent candidates far behind.

The NOTA gives an option to electors not to vote in favour of any of the candidates in an election.

Sena’s Ramesh Latke had represented the Andheri (East) Assembly seat twice.

The Shiv Sena had won 56 seats in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls. Ramesh Latke’s death in May this year brought the tally down to 55.

In June, 40 Sena legislators led by Eknath Shinde revolted against the party leadership, resulting in the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government (MVA).

Shinde subsequently became chief minister in an alliance with the BJP.

This was the first electoral contest in Maharashtra after the collapse of the MVA government.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, both constituents of the MVA, have supported Rutuja Latke’s candidature. PTI