bypolls – Central News Hub

Chidambaram confident after by poll results

In the three Lok Sabha seats, the result shows that the BJP has won in Khandwa (Madhya Pradesh), Shiv Sena in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Congress in Mandi (Himachal Pradesh)…reports Asian Lite News.

Buoyed by the bypoll results, Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Wednesday said that the electoral winds were now blowing against the BJP.

Taking to Twitter, he said: “Here is a thought provoking analysis of the results of by-elections in 30 Assembly constituencies, BJP won seven seats and its declared allies won eight seats.

“Congress won eight seats Non-BJP parties won 7 seats of which only one seat was won by a crypto ally of the BJP, namely YSR Congress. The other six seats were won by parties opposed to the BJP.

“The honours are even today. Which way will the wind blow in 2022?.”

Results of the bypolls to three Lok Sabha seats and 29 Assembly constituencies, announced on Tuesday, have been encouraging for the Congress in the states of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka where the party is now better placed than the BJP.

In the three Lok Sabha seats, the result shows that the BJP has won in Khandwa (Madhya Pradesh), Shiv Sena in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Congress in Mandi (Himachal Pradesh).

In Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Shiv Sena candidate and the widow of late Mohan Delkar, Kalavati Delkar won by more than 50,000 votes.

The Congress won all three Assembly constituencies of Arki, Fatehpur and Jubbal-Kotkhai of Himachal Pradesh.

Here is another interesting analysis of the results of the by-elections

In states where the Congress won, it did so with a significantly higher vote share:

– In HP, the Congress vs BJP was 48.9% to 28%

– In Maharashtra, it was 57% to 35%

– In Rajasthan, it was 37.51% to 18.8%
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) November 3, 2021

It has also won both the seats of Vallabhnagar and Dhariyawad in Rajasthan.

In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress swept all four seats, while the BJP and allies have gained grounds in the northeast.

In three of the four Assembly constituencies in West Bengal, the security deposit of BJP candidates has been forfeited.

The security deposit of the BJP candidates in Gosaba, Khardha and Dinhata have been lost, raising a huge question mark on the party’s performance.

The JD(U) has won in both the seats of Bihar– Kusheshwar Asthan and Tarapur. The candidates of the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) and ally United Democratic Party (UDP) were leading in the Mawryngkneng, Rajabala and Mawphlang Assembly seats in Meghalaya.

In MP’s Khandwa Lok Sabha seat, the BJP has had an easy win. The party has also won Jobat, and was leading in Prithvipur but trailing in Raigon.

In Maharashtra, the lone seat that went for the bypoll has been bagged by the Congress. It has wrested Hanagal seat from BJP in Karnataka which is the home turf of the Chief Minister but the major setback has been for TRS which has lost Huzoorabad seat to the BJP.

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Ahead of bypolls, demands to split Meghalaya on ethnic lines crop up

HSPDP President K.P. Pangniang told the media that after bifurcation of Meghalaya, one of the states would be for the Garos and the other for the Khasi-Jaintia communities…reports Asian Lite News.

Nearly 50 years after it was carved out of Assam as a full-fledged state in 1972, the demand to further bifurcate Meghlaya on ethnic lines has surfaced with two local parties forming a coordination committee for this purpose, ahead of the bye-elections to three Assembly seats on October 30.

The Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) – which is a part of the ruling National People’s Party-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance, and the Garo Hills State Movement Committee (GHSMC) have formed the committee to intensify their claim for the proposed Khasi-Jaintia and Garoland states.

The demand for creation of Garoland also comprising western Assam’s four districts — Chirang, Baksa, Udalguri and Kokrajhar — inhabited by the matrilineal Garo community once become a major issue in the northeast region when the Bodoland statehood movement was its peak.

The Bodoland issue was more or less resolved after the Bodoland Territorial Region accord was signed in January 2020 and 1,615 extremists along with their arms and ammunition surrendered to the government.

HSPDP President K.P. Pangniang told the media that after bifurcation of Meghalaya, one of the states would be for the Garos and the other for the Khasi-Jaintia communities.

“Demarcation of the boundaries clearly be done to create a separate state for the Khasi-Jaintia and Garo people so that no problem emerges in future similar to the existing inter-state problem between Assam and Meghalaya,” he said, adding that the coordination committee would identify and demarcate the areas that would fall in the two proposed states.

The GHSMC, a conglomerate of seven Garo organisations including regional party Garo National Council, along with the HSPDP, have also decided to launch a joint movement to intensify their demand for bifurcation of Meghalaya.

Pangniang said that they would release booklets in local languages to explain their demand for the creation of a separate state for the Khasi-Jaintias.

The GHSMC had in December 2018 raised the demand for a separate Garoland state after several extremist outfits also voiced for the similar demand. Several former militant leaders are also part of this renewed movement.

The Garo Hills region, comprising five of Meghalaya’s 11 districts and 24 out of 60 Assembly seats, is spread across 10,102 square km. As per the 2011 Census, this region had 13.94 lakh people compared to the 22.44 lakh spread across the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region covering 15,546 square km.

In 2014, the Meghalaya Assembly had rejected demand for the creation of a separate Garoland state in the western part of the state.

By-elections will be held on October 30 in three assembly seats — Mawryngkneng and Mawphlang in the East Khasi Hills, and Rajabala in the West Garo Hills district.

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