INDIA bloc secures major wins in bypolls across seven states

The INDIA bloc emerged victorious in four out of the thirteen assembly seats across seven states as votes were counted for the bypolls on Saturday, July 13, 2024. The bloc is leading in a total of six seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is ahead in only two.

In Punjab's Jalandhar West, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Mohinder Bhagat triumphed, defeating BJP nominee Sheetal Angural by a margin of over 37,000 votes. Meanwhile, in Himachal Pradesh, Kamlesh Thakur, wife of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, secured the Dehra seat for the Congress.

The Congress party, which recently secured 99 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, showed strong performance in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. The party is leading in two seats in Uttarakhand and one in Himachal Pradesh.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed victories in Raiganj and Bagda assembly seats in West Bengal. The party also leads in Maniktala and Ranaghat Dakshin constituencies.

In Tamil Nadu, DMK leader Anniyur Siva is ahead in the Vikravandi assembly constituency. Independent candidate Shankar Singh is leading in Bihar's Rupauli seat, with his closest rival being Janata Dal (United) candidate Kaladhar Mandal.

The BJP is currently leading in Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, and Amarwara, Madhya Pradesh. In Himachal Pradesh's Dehra seat, Congress' Kamlesh Thakur defeated BJP's Hoshiyar Singh. In Nalagarh, Congress' Hardeep Singh Bawa leads against BJP's K L Thakur, while in Hamirpur, BJP's Ashish Sharma is ahead of Congress' Pushpinder Verma by 1,545 votes.

These bypolls are a crucial test for the BJP, which secured 240 seats in the recent elections, falling short of the majority mark. With support from allies in the NDA coalition, including Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)), the NDA surpassed the halfway mark to form the government.