Dwindling numbers: BJP suffers a big jolt in bypolls as Congress wins

There is a spring in the stride of Opposition leaders after results of the latest Lok Sabha bypolls came in on Thursday. 

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won 282 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha, but its current tally is 275. This is because of losing bypolls, quitting of its Lok Sabha MPs — Bhandara-Gondiya (Maharashtra) MP Nana Patole, Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath (pictured) and Phulpur MP Keshav Prasad Maurya — and the passing away of its Palghar (Maharashtra) MP Chintaman Vanaga on Tuesday. 

The BJP is now only three more than the simple majority mark of 272, an Opposition leader quipped. Bypolls are due for six seats. The Congress, which had won 44-seats in 2014, now has 48. It couldn’t win a single of the 25-seats in Rajasthan in 2014, but now has two.