BJP loses in UP's Kairana bypolls, retains Maharashtra's Palghar

The results of four Lok Sabha bypolls were declared on Thursday, May 31. In what is seen as a face-saver, BJP emerged victorious in only one constituency - Palghar in Maharashtra, with Rajendra Gavit at the helm.

The saffron party lost the Kairana seat to Tabassum Hasan of Rashtriya Lok Dal. The Kairana seat fell vacant after the death of BJP MP Hukum Singh in February, following which his daughter Mriganka was chosen as the party candidate.

It can be noted that Tabassum Hasan is the first Muslim candidate to enter Lok Sabha elections from UP since 2014.

BJP was keen on retaining its power in Palghar in Maharashtra. The seat had become vacant after BJP MP Chintaman Wanaga passed away in January. However, since then, the saffron party and Shiv Sena were engaged in a controversy after the latter fielded the late BJP MP's son Srinivas.

The sudden change in loyalty had not gone down well with the BJP, especially since the Wanaga family has held various posts in the saffron party for the last 35 years.

Winning in both the constituencies was crucial for BJP as the bypoll results are indicative of people's mood ahead of the 2019 general elections. It was a test for Narendra Modi's mettle against the opposition parties, especially the regional heavyweights.

Here's how it happened:

• RLD's Tabassum Hasan won the Kairana seat with 4,01,464 votes while BJP's candidate Mriganka Singh polled 3,52,173.
• Talking to ANI, Singh said, "Many voters did vote for BJP but with a lead of some thousand votes alliance has won. I would like to congratulate the candidate. The alliance has emerged strong and now we have to prepare better for future."

• Rajendra Gavit of BJP wins Palghar bypoll.
  BJP's Gavit secured 2,57,506 votes. Shiv Sena lost by 25,645 votes. Congress' Damodar Barku Shingada polled 46,079 votes while Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) secured 20,024.
  It can be noted that BVA had won the seat in 2009.
• Ahead of the win, Jayant Chaudhary of RLD thanked several political leaders during a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
  "Would like to thank all parties who supported us, thank Akhileshji, Mayawatiji, Rahulji, Soniaji, the CPI(M), the AAP and others. Jinnah hara, Ganna jeeta," said Chaudhary.

• Even as BJP was seen leading in Palghar, Shiv Sena raised doubts regarding the credibility of the EVMs as well the Election Commission.
  "Many EVMs were faulty, names of about 50-60,00 people were missing from voter list. Also, within 12 hours of voting ending, EC changed vote percentage. So all this is very doubtful," ANI quoted Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena as saying.
  

• After the 16th round of counting, BJP's Gavit was leading by 22,000 votes from Palghar Lok Sabha seat.
  BJP: 1,79,344, Shiv Sena: 1,56,757 and Congress: 33,550

• After 15 rounds of counting in Kairana, RLD's Tabassum Hasan had secured 3,40,211 votes while BJP's Mriganka Singh had 2,70,435 votes.
• "This is the victory of truth. I still stand by what I said, there has been a conspiracy and we do not want any future elections to be conducted on EVM machines. The path for united opposition is clear in 2019," RLD's Tabassum was quoted as saying by ANI.

• BJP is leading in Palghar with 80,097 votes, with Shiv Sena trailing behind with 62,680 votes.
• The other parties that were contesting from Kairana are Bahujan Mukti Party with Inderjeet as its MP candidate, LD with Kanwar Hasan, JHJBP with Kumari Priti Kashyap as its MP-elect and seven other independent candidates.
• Apart from BJP and the Uddhav Thackeray-led party, other contenders for the Palghar seat were CPM with Gahala Kiran Raja, Congress with Damodar Barku Shingada as its candidate, Bahujan Vikas Aghadi with Baliram Sukur Jadhav, MLPI(RF) which fielded Shankar Bhaga Badade, and an independent party. 
• Rashtriya Lok Dal's Tabassum Hasan is leading from the start, with over 3,000 votes ahead of BJP's Mriganka Singh. 
• Meanwhile, in Palghar, BJP had an early lead with Shiv Sena in the third position in Round 1 of the counting.
• Kairana bypolls: There were over 16 lakh voters in Kairana, including 873,120 men, 736,431 women and 77 of the third gender.

• On May 28, a few EVMs at a polling booth in Kairana had suffered technical snags and several voters had to go back without casting their choice.
• It was crucial for BJP to win the Kairana seat. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had campaigned in the area to ensure that BJP does not see a repeat of Gorakhpur and Phulpur by-elections. The BJP had lost to Samajwadi Party in both the Lok Sabha constituencies.
• Mriganka Singh, contesting against Tabassum Hasan of Rashtriya Lok Dal, was backed by a joint opposition of Congress, Samajwadi Party, and Bahujan Samaj Party.
• The Kairana election is the fourth Lok Sabha by-election in the state since 2014.