The BJP clinched two assembly seats in Sikkim, the last of the north-eastern states where it had no lawmaker, marking a new high for the party in the by-polls to 15 constituencies of the east and northeast but the jubilation was muted by the woeful performance of ally JD(U) in Bihar.
Carrying forward its stupendous saga of triumph in the Lok Sabha elections held early this year, the BJP, an ally of Sikkim's rulingM won the Gangtok and Martam Rumtek assembly seats, and retained all three it contested in Assam.
However, barely five months after the NDA's astounding performance in Bihar in the Lok Sabha elections, the alliance spearheaded by the BJP suffered a setback in the by-polls with its senior partner in the state's ruling coalition winning just one of the five assembly seats on offer. The BJP had not fielded any candidate.
The NDA had won 39 of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats earlier this year, decimating the RJD. The only saving grace for the RJD-led grand alliance was Congress candidate Mohammed Javed's victory in Kishanganj.
The results gave the once mighty RJD a reason to smile as it won two seats, while Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM gained a toehold in the state clinching Kishanganj, a Muslim dominated constituency. BJP rebel candidate Karnjeet Singh won the Dharaunda seat.
Also Read
The JD(U) could win only Nathnagar where its candidate Laxmi Kant Mandal beat Rabia Khatun of the RJD.
The loss, in all probability, will be sorely felt by the JD(U) as it could reignite the demand by a section of saffron party leaders for a greater share in the electoral pie when assembly polls are held in Bihar next year.
Some senior BJP leaders had openly pitched for a saffron party leader as the next chief minister given its exponential growth over the last few years before party chief Amit Shah declared a few days ago that the NDA will go to the hustings in Bihar next year under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The RJD, which had drawn a blank in the Lok Sabha polls, the party's worst-ever performance since its inception 22 years ago, made a comeback of sorts when it wrested Simri Bakhtiarpur and Belhar from the JD(U) by impressive margins.
Of the five seats where by-polls were held, four were held by the JD(U) and one by the Congress. The by-polls were necessitated by the election of incumbent lawmakers to the Lok Sabha.
Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM was the surprise package in the by-polls that were billed as the semi-final before the state assembly elections next year.
The Hyderabad-headquartered party, whose influence was largely limited to the old city area of the Telangana capital for a long time, will make its debut in the Bihar assembly with its candidate Qamrul Hoda getting elected from Kishanganj. Hoda beat BJP's Sweety Singh by over 10,000 votes.
The AIMIM extended its influence beyond Hyderabad when it won two assembly seats in Maharashtra in 2014 and followed it up by clinching Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat in the same state in 2019, reflecting Owaisi and his party's growing acceptance among Muslims outside his native state.
In Assam, a BJP-ruled state, the saffron party retained three seats, while the opposition AIDUF wrested Jania constituency from the Congress. The BJP finished third in Jania.
While the BJP rules Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura, along with its regional allies it has been been power in Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim.
In Meghalaya, BJP-backed Independent candidate Chakat Aboh won the by-poll for the Khonsa West seat. She was also supported by four other parties.
United Democratic Party candidate Balajied Kupar Synrem won the by-poll to Shella Assembly constituency in Meghalaya. The UDP was a constituent of BJP-led North-East democratic alliance but walked out of it a few months ago following differences over the proposed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
In Odisha, Rita Sahu of the state's ruling BJD won the Bijepur seat defeating Sanat Gartia of the BJP by a staggering margin of over 97,000 votes.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had won both Bijepur and Hinjli seats in last assembly polls but chose to vacate the former.
The BJD, a bitter rival of the BJP in the state, has been lending issue-based support to the NDA in Parliament.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
