Bypoll results 2018: Kairana has a loud message for Modi-Shah before 2019

The BJP's loss in Kairana bypoll is seen as yet another dent in the invincibility cloak of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah

The Kairana Lok Sabha bypoll result has yet again underlined the challenge that Narendra Modi-Amit Shah combine is set to face in 2019 against a united Opposition. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) loss here is seen as yet another dent in the invincibility cloak of Prime Minister Modi and party chief Shah.

With the BJP likely to struggle a repeat of its 2014 performance in much of northern India, the Kairana loss puts into sharper focus Shah’s efforts at expanding the party in areas beyond the Vindhyas and Chota Nagpur plateau, and make inroads in the Coromandel coast states.

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