After a drubbing in three Hindi heartland states recently, it has been a mixed bag for the BJP in the bypolls in Rajasthan's Ramgarh and Jind in Haryana.
The Congress has won the Ramgarh seat with a margin of 12,228 votes. Congress candidate Shafia Zubair got a total of 83,311 votes. BJP's Suwant Singh garnered 71,083 votes.
BSP candidate and former Union minister's son Jagat Singh, a former MLA, came third in this triangular contest.
In Jind, BJP candidate Krishan Middha won with a margin of 12,936 votes defeating his JJP rival Digvijay Singh Chautala.
Middha polled 50,566 votes against Chautala's 37,631 votes, officials said.
Congress candidate Randeep Singh Surjewala was at third spot with 22,740 votes.
In a setback for main opposition Indian National Lok Dal, which held the seat, its candidate Umed Singh Redhu was trailing at fourth spot.
Ramgarh, Rajasthan:
There was a total of 20 rounds in Rajasthan. Ballot papers were counted first, followed by votes polled on electronic voting machines, officials said. As many as 20 candidates contested the Ramgarh election on January 28. The election to the Assembly seat could not be held along with other constituencies due to the death of BSP candidate ahead of the December 7 Rajasthan elections
The seat, which was won by the BJP in the 2013 state elections, witnessed a triangular contest this time – between the ruling Congress, Opposition BJP and BSP.
In the December 7 polls, the Congress won 99 seats, RLD one, BJP 73, BSP six, RLTP three, and CPI (M) and BTP two each, and 13 independents emerged victorious in the state election.
Jind, Haryana:
Twenty-one candidates, including two women, contested the bypoll, which were held on January 28. A healthy voter turnout of 75.77 per cent was reported in the by-election to the Jind assembly constituency, dubbed as a prestige battle for the ruling BJP, the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) ahead of the Parliamentary and Assembly polls.
The bypoll was also important for the newly-floated Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), which was formed after a split in the main opposition INLD. The by-election was necessitated following the death of INLD MLA Hari Chan Middha, whose son Krishan Middha recently joined the BJP and contested as the saffron party's candidate for the bypoll.
Hari Chand Middha had represented Jind twice. The Congress fielded its senior leader and sitting MLA from Kaithal constituency Randeep Singh Surjewala. The INLD banks on Umed Singh Redhu to retain the seat. The JJP put its weight behind Digvijay Singh Chautala, the younger son of jailed leader Ajay Singh Chautala, who broke away from the INLD and floated the party last month. Loktantra Suraksha Party (LSP), which is led by BJP's rebel MP Raj Kumar Saini, also entered the fray.
The bypoll was held just months ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Haryana. Arch rivals BJP, Congress, INLD and JJP are eyeing the results as a self-assessment exercise ahead of the Lok Sabha polls this year. The high-stake election is considered a referendum on the Manohar Lal Khattar government and also a semi-final ahead of the general elections.
