Photo Courtesy: PTI
New Delhi: Following the Lok Sabha poll results last month, INDIA bloc parties made significant gains in West Bengal and Punjab, securing ten out of thirteen Assembly seats across seven states where by-polls were conducted.
The BJP, still in power at the Centre, faced setbacks by retaining only two out of three seats in West Bengal, while its ally JD(U) lost its Bihar seat to an Independent candidate.
In the recent poll results announced on Saturday, only one of the three outgoing Independent MLAs, who contested this time as BJP candidates, managed to retain his seat in Himachal Pradesh.
The Trinamool Congress achieved notable success by retaining its seats and wresting three more from the BJP in West Bengal. Meanwhile, the Congress, which initially held two seats (one each in Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand), lost its Madhya Pradesh seat but gained one additional seat in Uttarakhand and two in Himachal Pradesh. Other allies of the INDIA bloc, such as DMK and AAP, retained their single seats in Tamil Nadu and Punjab, respectively. The BSP lost its sole seat in Uttarakhand.
Overall, the election results favored the ruling parties in most states, with TMC winning all four seats in West Bengal, Congress securing two out of three seats in Himachal Pradesh, and AAP, BJP, and DMK winning single seats in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, respectively.
However, Uttarakhand and Bihar stood out as exceptions, where candidates from the ruling parties BJP and JD(U) were defeated by Congress candidates in both states and an Independent candidate in Bihar.
In Himachal Pradesh, only one out of the three Independent MLAs who switched to the BJP and contested under its banner managed to retain his seat.
