Lost Kairana, Noorpur because BJP supporters had gone on vacation, says UP minister

In a bizzare logic, an Uttar Pradesh Minister has said that the BJP lost Kairana Lok Sabha seat and Noorpur assembly becasue the party's voters had gone out for "summer holidays". Minister Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary further said that there a big difference in the way people vote in by elections and general elections.

"Our supporters and voters had gone with their children for summer holidays so we lost those two seats (Kairana and Noorpur)," news agency ANI quoted Chaudhary as saying.

Results for by-elections held on May 28 in four Lok Sabha seats and 10 assembly seats across 10 states were declared on Thursday. BJP was able win just one Lok Sabha and one assembly seat in the overall results that were declared yesterday.

The biggest shock for the BJP came from Kairana, which it had won in 2014 with a huge majority. Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) candidate Tabassum Hasan won the Kairana Lok Sabha by-elections. The RLD candidate, backed by opposition parties Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, was fielded against Mriganka Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The seat had fallen vacant after the death of BJP MP Hukum Singh. His daughter Mriganka Singh had contested the by-election on the BJP ticket. The BJP also lost Noorpur assembly seat in UP.

In the bypolls held in 10 assembly seats, the BJP was able to win just one seat from Tharali (Uttarakhand). Congress won 3 assembly seats - Palus Kadegaon (Maharashtra), Shahkot (Punjab) and Ampati (Meghalaya) and CPI (M) won one - Chengannur (Kerala). The rest were bagged by regional parties - 2 by JMM, 1 each by TMC, SP and RJD. The RR Nagar election in Bengaluru was won comprehensively by the Congress.