BJP wins in MP, TMC in West Bengal, AIADMK sweeps TN & CPM wins in Tripura
Counting of votes for Lok Sabha and eight Assembly Constituencies in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Tripura is underway.
The BJP today retained Shahdol Lok Sabha and Nepanagar Assembly seats in the by-elections in Madhya Pradesh, defeating the Congress which had brought to the campaign the demonetisation issue alongwith local themes against the ruling party.
In Shahdol(ST), BJP's Gyan Singh defeated Himadri Singh of Congress by a comfortable margin of over 60,000 votes, belying the latter's hopes of wresting the seat to add to the party's tally in the Lok Sabha.
Gyan Singh bagged 4,81,398 votes while his Congress rival polled 4,21,015 votes, an election official said.
The BJP's victory margin, however, fell substantially from 2,41,301 in the 2014 general elections in Shahdol.
The BJP also defended the Nepanagar Assembly seat where its contestant Manju Dadu trounced nearest Congress rival Antar Singh Barde by a margin of 42,198 votes.
The ruling party sharply increased its winning margin in Nepanagar to 42,198 votes as against 22,178 in the 2013 Assembly polls.
The Shahdol LS bypoll was necessitated following the death of BJP's Dalpat Singh Paraste, who had wrested the seat for his party from Congress' Rajesh Nandini Singh in 2014.
Taking it as a prestigious battle, especially after its defeat in Ratlam-Jabua last year, the BJP in Shahdol fielded Gyan Singh, a tribal leader and minister in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan Cabinet, while the Congress put its bet on Himadri Singh.
Congress had seized on the currency scrapping issue which came by its way in the midst of the campaign, claiming that it had caused serious inconvenience to the people even in tribal-dominated areas.
BJP leaders, however, exuded confidence of retaining both the ST seats, arguing that the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes would not affect the party's prospects.
Chouhan himself had campaigned in Shahdol to ensure his party's victory as he considered it crucial to defend the seat after its failure to retain the Ratlam-Jhabua LS constituency in a bypoll held in November last year.
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Counting of votes for Lok Sabha and eight Assembly Constituencies in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Tripura is underway.
AIADMK wins Thanjavur, leading in two other seats
AIADMK retained the Thanjavur Assembly constituency by a margin of over 25,000 votes and was surging ahead in two other segments in Tamil Nadu.
In Thanjavur, AIADMK candidate M Rengasamy won by a comfortable margin of over 25,000 votes against DMK candidate Anjugham Boopathy.
BJP's Gyan Singh wins Lok Sabha seat from Shahdol (Madhya Pradesh).
People have voted against anti-people decision of demonetisation: Mamata Banerjee on bypoll results
Baithalangso: BJP candidate Mansing Rongpi is leading over his nearest Congress rival Rupensing Ronghang by 4,835 votes.
TMC candidate Dibyendu Adhikari wins Tamluk Lok Sabh seat defeating his nearest CPI(M) rival Mandira Panda by 4.97 lakh votes.
Lakhimpur: BJP candidate Pradan Barua is leading over his nearest Congress rival Hema Prasanga Pegu by 1,42,764 votes.
BJP's Manju Dadu wins on Nepanagar assembly seat by 40600 votes.
Maharashtra legislative council: Out of 6 seats Congress and BJP win 2 each, NCP and Shiv Sena win 1 each
WEST BENGAL
Tamluk: Dibyendu Adhikari of TMC leading over his CPIM rival Mandira Panda by over 90,000 votes.
Coochbehar: Parthapratim Roy of TMC leading over his BJP rival Hemchandra Burman by 30,000 votes.
BJP leading with 24312 votes on Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat, Congress at second with 12484 votes.
TMC leading by 34842 votes on Cooch Behar Lok Sabha seat.
Madhya Pradesh: BJP leading by 10,800 votes on Shahdol Lok Sabha seat
Congress wins Nellithoppu assembly seat in Puducherry
Congress contender and Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy bagged the Nellithoppe assembly seat in Puducherry by-election defeating AIADMK's Om Sakthi Segar.
Narayanasamy, who is not a member of the territorial assembly, had emerged as compromise candidate for the Chief Minister's post after May 16 assembly elections.
Shiv Sena's Tanaji Sawant wins legislative council seat from Yavatmal
CPI-M wins both Assembly seats in Tripura
The ruling CPI-M in Tripura won the two Assembly seats, Barjala (SC) and Khowai, by defeating Congress and TMC candidates respectively.
CPI-M candidate Jhumu Sarkar trounced his nearest BJP rival Shistamohan Das by a margin of 3,374 votes in Barjala (SC) constituency. CPI-M secured 15,769 votes, while BJP garnered 12,395 votes.
By-poll in the constituency was necessitated due to the resignation of Congress MLA Jitendra Sarkar in June last.
Congress secured only 804 votes, while Trinamool Congress (TMC) 5,629 votes.
CPIM leading on Khowai(Tripura) Assembly seat
Barjala(Tripura) Assembly seat: CPIM leading with 8466 votes, BJP at second with 6391
Counting of votes starts in three assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu and in Nellithoppu constituency in Pondicherry
Thanjavur assembly seat first round counting ends. AIADMK leads with 5,993 votes, DMK at 3,974 votes #TamilNadu