Bypoll results: PDP wrests Budgam, Congress Jubilee Hills; AAP retains Tarn Taran

While the country remained glued to the outcome of the high-stakes Assembly elections in Bihar on Friday (November 14), results of eight bypolls held in six states also came out the same day. The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won two of them each, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Peoples Democratic Front (PDP), Mizo National Front and Jharkhand Mukri Morcha won one each.

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While the results of Anta constituency (Rajasthan), Tarn Taran (Punjab), Budgam and Nagrota (Jammu and Kashmir), Dampa (Mizoram) and Jubilee Hills (Telangana) were announced earlier in the day, those in Nuapada (Odisha) and Ghatsila (Jharkhand) took more time.

MNF bags Dampa

Mizoram's main Opposition party, Mizo National Front (MNF), retained the Dampa Assembly seat in Mamit district, with its candidate R Lalthangliana defeating Vanlalsailova of the north-eastern state's ruling Zoram People's Movement (ZPM), by a narrow margin of 562 votes, according to the Election Commission (EC).

Lalthangliana got 6,981 votes, which is 40.23 per cent of the total vote share. With 6,419 votes, Vanlalsailova bagged 36.61 per cent of the total votes polled.

Congress nominee John Rotluangalian stood third, securing 2,394 votes, while the BJP's Lalhmingthanga finished fourth with 1,541 votes.

A total of 83.07 per cent of 20,888 voters exercised their franchise in the Dampa bypoll held on November 11. The Dampa seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent MNF legislator Lalrintluanga Sailo on July 21.

Congress takes Anta

Congress candidate and former state minister Pramod Jain "Bhaya" won the Anta Assembly bypoll in Rajasthan with 69,571 votes, defeating the BJP's Morpal Suman by a margin of 15,612 votes.

Suman got 53,959 votes to end up in the second position, pipping Independent candidate and Congress rebel Naresh Meena, who was initially in the second place, by just 159 votes.

In Anta, a total of 15 candidates were in the fray. The constituency recorded a voter turnout of 80.21 per cent during polling held on November 11. The seat was previously held by the BJP but fell vacant after sitting MLA Kanwar Lal Meena was disqualified following his conviction in a 2005 case.

AAP keeps Tarn Taran

Punjab's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) retained the Tarn Taran Assembly seat, with its candidate Harmeet Singh Sandhu defeating Shiromani Akali Dal's Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa by a margin of 12,091 votes.

Sandhu got 42,649 votes against Randhawa's 30,558 votes after the completion of all 16 rounds of counting, according to the EC.

Independent candidate Mandeep Singh was in the third spot with 19,620 votes; the Congress's Karanbir Singh Burj came fourth with 15,078 ballots, and the BJP's Harjit Singh Sandhu finished fifth with 6,239 votes.

The Tarn Taran seat fell vacant after the death of sitting MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal of the AAP in June.

Polling for the seat was held on November 11, recording a voter turnout of 60.95 per cent.

Also Read: Punjab bypoll: EC suspends Tarn Taran SSP Ravjot Grewal over SAD allegations

Budgam goes to PDP

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Aga Syed Muntazir won the Budgam bypoll by 4,478 votes, obtaining 21,576 votes. National Conference candidate Aga Syed Mehmood secured 17,098 votes, while the BJP’s Aga Syed Mohsin was in a distant sixth position with 2,619 votes.

Also Read: J-K bypolls: NC fields DDC member as Cong leaves Nagrota to realise 'larger goal' of defeating BJP

The bypoll saw a voter turnout of 50.01 per cent. The election was necessitated after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vacated the seat, having won both Budgam and Ganderbal in the Assembly elections last year. Abdullah opted to retain his family bastion of Ganderbal.

Congress pockets Jubilee Hills

Congress candidate V Naveen Yadav won the Jubilee Hills Assembly bypoll in Telangana, defeating BRS candidate Maganti Sunitha by a margin of over 24,000 votes.

Yadav secured 98,988 votes, while the BRS nominee got 74,259 votes. BJP candidate Lankala Deepak Reddy, who managed to get only 17,061 votes, forfeited his security deposit.

The constituency recorded a turnout of 48.49 per cent on November 11. The bypoll was necessitated by the death of BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath, Sunitha's husband, in June this year.

Also Read: Cash, liquor and controversy cloud Jubilee Hills bypoll in Hyderabad

BJP snatches Nuapada

In Nuapada, Dholakia won the contest by a margin of more than 83,000 ballots against his nearest rival, Ghasi Ram Manjhi of the Congress. Dholakia polled 1,23,869 votes as against Majhi's 40,121. This victory saw the BJP wresting a seat which earlier was occupied by the Biju Janata Dal's (BJD) Rajendra Dholakia, who passed away in September. The BJD fielded Snehangini Chhuria for the bypoll but she ended third with 38,408 votes.

Also Read: Nuapada bypoll: Odisha CEO rejects BJD claim of EVMs being moved from Ganjam district

The bypoll was necessitated by the demise of BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia on September 8.

Nuapada recorded an outstanding voter turnout of 83.45 per cent, the highest among the eight bypolls held in India on November 11.

JMM dominates Ghatsila

JMM candidate Somesh Chandra Soren won from Ghatsila, maintaining his party's dominance at the same seat. Somesh is the son of sitting MLA Ramdas Soren, whose death on August 15 necessitated the bypoll. Securing 104,936 votes, he defeated Babulal Soren, son of former Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren, by more than 38,600 votes. Ramdas Murmu of Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha finished third with around 11,500 votes.

The constituency recorded a turnout of 74.63 per cent on November 11.

Thirteen candidates contested, but the main fight was between Somesh and Babulal.

BJP retains Nagrota

The BJP has retained the Nagrota Assembly constituency in Jammu and Kashmir with its candidate Devyani Rana winning by 24,647 votes, carrying forward the legacy of her late father and senior party leader Devender Singh Rana who was the MLA from the same seat when he passed away last year.

Devyani, who was leading from the beginning, secured 42,350 votes, defeating Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) candidate Harsh Dev Singh, who got 17,703 votes.

The National Conference's Shamim Begum finished third with 10,872 votes. A total of 10 candidates were in fray in the constituency.

Nagrota went to polls on Tuesday, when a voter turnout of more than 75 per cent was recorded.

(With agency inputs)