BJP's string of bypoll losses continues

BJP has suffered electoral reverses in all the three rounds of by-elections conducted after it swept the Lok Sabha polls four months ago.
The saffron party, which got majority on its own in Lok Sabha riding a Modi wave, has got a rude shock in the third round of by-elections, losing ground in key states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat.
The first bypolls were held in Congress ruled Uttarakhand close on the heels of the May 16 Lok Sabha verdict. The outcome had shocked the BJP as the Congress had won all the three Assembly seats including two seats which were held by former BJP Chief Ministers who were elected to Lok Sabha by comfortable margins.

The second round saw the party losing six out of the 10 seats in Bihar, despite a formidable show in the Lok Sabha polls.
Seat adjustments among arch rivals-JD-U's Nitish Kumar and RJD's Lalu Prasad and the Congress forced BJP to beat a retreat as the three parties together won six seats.
The BJP's string of failures continued today when it lost 13 of 23 seats in three states-- UP(7), Gujarat (3) and Rajasthan (3).

The BJP had swept all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, 25 in Rajasthan and 71 of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh. Its ally Apna Dal had won two seats.

As the BJP again suffered reverses in the assembly by-polls, the Opposition said that the results should ring alarm bells for the BJP and the Narendra Modi government.
This meant that an anti-incumbency factor has set in within 100 days of the Narendra Modi government coming to power, Congress General Secretary Shakeel Ahmed said.
"If you look at these results, these bypolls have proved to be bye-bye polls for the BJP," NCP General Secretary D P Tripathi remarked.
The bypoll results have come as a shot in the arm for Congress as it gained three seats each in Gujarat and Rajasthan after drawing a blank in Lok Sabha polls.