By election: Results kindle hopes for Congress in string of Assembly polls next year

New Delhi, Nov 2: The results of the bypolls to three Lok Sabha and 29 assembly seats on Tuesday saw the Congress make significant gains in the Hindi heartland states of Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan and has kindled fresh hopes for the Congress, which claims that the outcome will have a bearing on a string of state assembly elections due next year.

As the BJP suffered its first major setback in the northern states since the commencement of the farmers agitation last November, the Congress sees signals of an undercurrent against the BJP in the region amid rising price rise, high petrol, diesel and LPG prices and the farmers intensifying their stir against the three farm laws.

Congress leaders claim that the bypoll results are indicative of the trend for the upcoming assembly elections and that the defeat of the BJP in two Lok Sabha seats is the beginning of the BJP-led Central government's countdown.

Rahul Gandhi, a former Congress president, attributed the party's good showing to its workers and asked them to keep "fighting hate" without fear. The party leaders also believe that the voting trends against the BJP are indicative of "widespread distrust" of people towards the ruling dispensation due to spiralling prices of commodities and fuel, coupled with the issue of unemployment.

This, they feel, is hurting common people, who in turn, are showing their anger by voting against the BJP. Several Congress leaders claim that the countdown to the BJP governments in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka has begun, as in both the states, the BJP lost in the home districts of their respective chief ministers.

The Congress swept the bypolls for the seats in Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, gaining one Lok Sabha and one assembly seat in the hill state and one each in the desert state as well as in Karnataka, wresting it from the BJP, which had bagged seat won by the JD-S earlier.

While the BJP lost to the Congress in Mandi Lok Sabha constituency, the home district of Himachal chief minister Jairam Thakur, it also lost the Hangal assembly constituency in the home district of Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. The Congress won all the three assembly bypolls of Fatehpur, Arki and Jubbal-Kotkhai in Himachal Pradesh, as the BJP lost its deposit in Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly constituency in Himachal, a seat earlier held by it.

The Congress wrested the Dhariawad assembly seat in Rajasthan while retaining Vallabhnagar seat. The Congress also won the Raigaon (SC) assembly bypoll in Madhya Pradesh. The Congress retained Deglur assembly seat in Maharashtra. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told the prime minister that "disdain for people's pain is harmful" and sought the repeal of farm laws and stop the "loot" of petrol, diesel.

"The BJP's exit is written on the wall," Surjewala claimed. Party leader Rajeev Shukla said the party's performance has been very encouraging and will have its effect in Uttar Pradesh as well as other states where assembly polls are to be held next year. "The results are a clear rejection of the anti-people policies of the BJP and betrayal of the mandate. The tide has turned, and the countdown has begun for the BJP," Congress leader Anand Sharma said.

Assembly elections are due in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur early 2022 and in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh later next year. The showing by the Trinamool Congress, which wrested two seats from the BJP, and the Shiv Sena that won the Dadra and Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha seat, also gave them a further boost for future polls. "First step outside Maharashtra, giant leap towards Delhi via Dadra Nagar Haveli. #ChaloDelhi", said Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut.PTI