BSP, CPI(M) lose bypolls in UP, Bengal

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, ruling parties in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal — BSP and CPI(M) — lost the by-elections for two seats they had held in the crucial states.

Samajwadi Party candidate Madhubala Pasi won the Bhadohi Assembly seat in UP. BSP had won the seat in the previous elections.

In West Bengal, the ruling Left Front suffered a big blow when Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress wrested the Bisnupur seat from the CPI(M).

The result of the by-election, considered a litmus test for both the CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress, could perhaps smoothen the process for the Trinamool and the Congress to forge their long-discussed alliance for the Lok Sabha polls.

Trinamool's Madan Mitra won by a whopping 30,395 votes over his nearest rival Iskander Hossain of CPI(M) in a four-cornered contest. Mitra polled 85,335 votes while Hossain got 54,940 votes. BJP nominee Tapan Ghosh managed to secure a paltry 4,160 votes. The result constituted the second setback for the Left Front after it suffered double reverses in assembly by-polls in Nandigram and Sujapur held in December and January.