New Delhi: Along with the Haryana and Maharashtra assembly elections, bypolls were conducted in 51 assembly seats and two parliamentary constituencies across 18 states on October 21. After counting began on Thursday, early trends show mixed results. The National Democratic Alliance, led by the BJP, is leading in 20 assembly seats, while the United Progressive Alliance is ahead in 16. In the rest of the seats, non-allied parties are leading.Out of the two Lok Sabha seats that went to polls, the BJP’s ally Lok Janshakti Party is leading in Samastipur in Bihar, while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is on its way to retain Satara.This may come as a major shock for the saffron party, which treated the by-polls as a way to consolidate its supremacy across the country.Some shock results seem likely in Gujarat, where Congress defectors Alpesh Thakor and his aide Dhawalsinh Zala, contesting on behalf of the BJP, are trailing from their respective seats of Radhanpur and Bayad. They had won the seats as Congress candidates in 2017.Similarly, another defector Udayanraje Bhonsle, who won the Satara Lok Sabha seat on the NCP’s ticket and is contesting as a BJP nominee in the bypolls, is trailing by a huge margin. Satara, which is Sharad Pawar’s stronghold, is likely to hand a victory to NCP’s candidate Shriniwas Patil. He is a longtime friend of Pawar and a popular orator.Interestingly, the ruling All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIDMK) is winning both the assembly seats in Tamil Nadu. In the last bypolls, it had performed very poorly, losing most seats to its rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).Also Read: Haryana Election Results Live: BJP Ahead, But Several of Its Ministers Are TrailingIn Bihar, where bypolls in five seats were conducted, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is leading in two seats, while the ruling Janata Dal (United) [(JD(U)] leading only in one. The BJP is not leading even in a single seat. An independent candidate and one candidate from the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM are leading in one seat each.Kerala’s six seats are likely to be shared equally between the ruling Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front. The same is the case in Rajasthan’s two seats.The Congress is on its way to win three of the four constituencies in Punjab, with one seat possibly going to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).In the high-profile Bijepur seat, which Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik vacated, the ruling Biju Janata Dal has already taken a huge lead.The BJP, however, has consolidated its position in Uttar Pradesh and Assam. Out of the 11 seats which went to polls in UP, the saffron party is leading in 6. The BSP is leading in 1, SP in 2 and the Congress in 1 seat. Apna Dal (Soney Lal) is leading in one seat too.The saffron party is also leading in three of the four seats in Assam, with one seat possibly going to Badruddin Ajaml’s AIUDF.In the Rangapara assembly seat, Rajen Borthakur of BJP is ahead of Kartik Kurmi of Congress by over 35,000 votes. In the Ratabari seat, BJP’s Bijoy Malakar is ahead of Congress’ Keshab Prasad Rajak by over 12,000 votes. In the Sonari assembly seat, BJP’s Nabanita Handique is ahead of Sushil Kumar Suri of Congress by over 6,000 votes. In the Jonai seat, AIUDF candidate Rafiqul Islam is ahead of Shamsul Haque of Congress by over 20,000 votes.In another northeastern state, the BJP wrested a seat from the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) to win its maiden seat in the state by winning in Ramtek-Martam. The SKM, which seized the Poklok-Kamrang seat from the Sikkim Democratic Front, where the party’s chief and chief minister P.S. Golay won by over 8,000 votes.The victorious BJP candidate, Sonam Tsering Venchungpa, had won the same seat in the April assembly polls for the SKM. He then moved to the BJP just ahead of the bypolls.The results of the third assembly seat – Gangtok – is not out yet. The SKM, which won the seat in the last assembly polls, had left it for the BJP in the bypolls.In Meghalaya, the United Democratic Party’s Balajied Synrem won the Shella assembly constituency. Though UDP is a part of the coalition government in Meghalaya, the BJP and the PDF contested the elections separately. Only the NPP didn’t field a candidate and supported the UDP. The BJP candidate bagged only 716 votes.In Arunachal Pradesh, independent candidate Chat Aboh, the wife of the murdered National People’s Party MLA Tirong Aboh, won the Khonsa West seat by over 1,800 votes. Aboh was backed by five political parties, including the Congress and the BJP.
