Live updates: TMC sweeps assembly bypolls, BJP keeps MP, Cong wins in HP

Three Lok Sabha and 29 Assembly constituencies held by-elections on October 30.

Live news updates: Resuls are out for by-elections to three Lok Sabha and 29 assembly seats in 13 states and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

The BJP suffered setbacks in Himachal Pradesh and Haryana--states where it is in power--and led in Northeast states and in Madhya Pradesh. The Congress won in Himachal, including the Mandi Lok Sabha seat. The Trinamool Congress won four assembly seats in West Bengal, wresting two from the BJP and retaining the rest.

Ride-hailing company Ola, backed by Japan's Softbank Group, has notched up its first-ever operating profit since beginning operations a decade ago, company documents showed on Tuesday.

The Centre's vaccination scheme has created two classes of citizens in India, said the Kerala High Court on Tuesday. It was referring to people who got the Covishield vaccine and travel anywhere in the world and those who took Covaxin and whose movements are restricted.

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1:30 AM

Bengal govt holding talks with SEC about civic polls: Minister

The West Bengal government has held preliminary discussions about conducting polls in all municipalities and municipal corporations with the State Election Commission (SEC), a minister said on Tuesday.

 

Elections to 112 municipalities and five municipal corporations in the state are overdue for quite some time. Polls could not be held due to the Covid-19 pandemic, authorities had said.

 

"We have already started the process for conducting civic body polls across West Bengal and held preliminary talks with the State Election Commission," Minister of State for Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Chandrima Bhattacharya told reporters.

 

Media reports quoting urban development department sources had indicated that the government wants to hold elections to the municipal corporations of Kolkata, Howrah and Bidhannagar on December 19 and those in municipalities and other civic bodies in January.

12:28 AM

JD-U wins both Bihar bypolls, RJD cites close contest

Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United managed to win both the seats where a bypoll was held last week.

 

While in Kusheshwar Asthan, it managed to win convincingly with a big margin votes against the RJD candidate, there was neck-and-neck fight between these two parties in Tarapur till the last round.

 

In Kusheshwar Asthan, JD-U's Aman Bhushan Hajari defeated RJD's Ganesh Bharti with a margin of 12,698 votes, but in Tarapur, the close contest went on till the second last round, before JD-U candidate Rajiv Kumar Singh defeated RJD's Arun Shah by a small margin of 3,821 votes.

 

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said: "We have nothing to lose in this election. We are the single largest party in Bihar Assembly with 75 seats. We had a close fight in Tarapur and the match went till second last over. The vote percentage also increased in these two seats."

 

"In Kusheshwar Asthan, the JD-U candidate gained sympathy votes as his father was elected as MLA in 2020 Assembly election. Winning and losing is part of the election. The people of Bihar want change and our fight against the NDA will continue."

11:58 PM

TMC steam-rolls to victory in all 4 by-polls in Bengal by massive margins

The ruling Trinamool Congress on Tuesday steam-rolled the opposition to score a 4-0 clean sweep in by-elections held on October 30, leaving the opposition in tatters. In a major setback to BJP, the saffron camp's candidates lost their deposits in three constituencies Dinhata, Gosaba and Khardaha as they failed to win the one-sixth of valid votes polled.

 

The BJP candidate from Santipur was the only one who managed not to lose his deposit by polling over a fifth of the votes cast. The Left Front's candidates managed to secure third spots in all constituencies.

 

The TMC wrested the Dinhata and Santipur seats in Coochbehar and Nadia districts respectively from the BJP by huge margins, to raise its tally to 215 in the 294-member West Bengal assembly. READ ON...

11:31 PM

Mizoram bypolls: Ruling MNF retains Tuirial Assembly seat

The ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) won the Tuirial Assembly seat in Mizoram that went to bypolls on October 30.

 

MNF candidate K Laldawngliana defeated his nearest opponent Laltlanmawia of the Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) by a margin of 1,284 votes. Laldawngliana secured 5,820 votes, while Laltlanmawia got 4,536 votes.

 

Congress candidate Chalrosanga Ralte finished at the third spot by securing 3,927 votes and BJP nominee K Laldinthara managed 246 votes.

 

In April 2019, the ruling MNF had won the bypoll to Aizawl West-I seat but lost the by-election to Serchhip seat in April this year to ZPM candidate Lalduhoma.

 

The bypoll to the Tuirial seat was necessitated due to the death of incumbent MLA Andrew H Thangliana, who was allied with the ZPM. Meanwhile, BJP ally, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party had won the Shamator-Chessore seat in Nagaland uncontested.

10:52 PM

Committed to overall development of country: BJP on bypoll results

BJP president JP Nadda on Tuesday expressed gratitude to people for the party's victory in assembly bypolls in various states and said the party is committed to overall development of the country.

 

In a series of Tweets, Nadda thanked the people for showing reposing faith in the BJP, and complimented party workers and leaders of various state units including chief ministers for victory in the assembly bypolls.

 

The victory in assembly bypolls in various states shows the faith of the people in the BJP's state governments working under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nadda said.

 

Echoing similar sentiments, senior BJP leader and Union Minister Amit Shah said the BJP-led NDA governments in various states under the leadership of PM Modi are working for overall development of the society by raising the standard of living of the people.

 

The BJP and its allies on Tuesday won 11 assembly seats in Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.

 

Results were mostly favouring for the ruling parties in the states except in Himachal Pradesh, where the BJP lost all three assembly seats and the Lok Sabha constituency to the Congress.

10:26 PM

People voted for BJP, allies in Assam by-poll in the hope of development: Congress

Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President Bhupen Borah Tuesday said that people of the five constituencies in the state which went to the by-poll have voted in favour of the ruling NDA in the hope of development and fulfilment of poll promises made by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

 

The people have voted for BJP and its ally the UPPL in the October 30 by-poll and the Congress respects their mandate, he said.

 

"We congratulate the people, the candidates and the chief Minister,'' Borah said.

 

The BJP-led government in the state will remain in power for the next four and a half years and the people have voted in their favour in the by-poll to five Assembly constituencies to ensure that the various problems in them are resolved, Borah told reporters after the announcement of the results on Tuesday.

9:56 PM

BJP wins Huzurabad Assembly constituency in Telangana

BJP candidate Eatala Rajender on Tuesday won the keenly-watched by-poll held to Huzurabad Assembly constituency in Telangana, defeating the ruling TRS nominee Gellu Srinivas Yadav by a margin of 24,068 votes.

 

The bypoll outcome is seen as a setback to ruling TRS and a boost to the BJP's plans to emerge as the alternative to TRS in Telangana in the 2023 assembly elections.

 

While Rajender secured 1,06,780 votes, Srinivas Yadav of TRS got 82,712 votes. Congress candidate Venkat Balmoori came a distant third with 3,012 votes.

 

Rajender has maintained a consistent lead over his TRS rival except for a couple of rounds as the counting of votes progressed since Tuesday morning.

9:43 PM

Bypoll results kindle hopes for Congress in string of Assembly polls next year, say party leaders

The results of the bypolls to three Lok Sabha and 29 assembly seats on Tuesday saw the Congress make significant gains in the Hindi heartland states of Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan and has kindled fresh hopes for the Congress, which claims that the outcome will have a bearing on a string of state assembly elections due next year.

 

As the BJP suffered its first major setback in the northern states since the commencement of the farmers agitation last November, the Congress sees signals of an undercurrent against the BJP in the region amid rising price rise, high petrol, diesel and LPG prices and the farmers intensifying their stir against the three farm laws.

 

Congress leaders claim that the bypoll results are indicative of the trend for the upcoming assembly elections and that the defeat of the BJP in two Lok Sabha seats is the beginning of the BJP-led Central government's countdown.

9:21 PM

By-poll victory proof of development work by BJP govt: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Tuesday credited the power-packed perormance of NDA in the by-poll in the five Assembly seats in the state, whose results were declared during the day, to the development work by his government in the last five-and-half months and asserted that all poll promises will be fulfilled.

 

He said the mandate is also recognition of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to uplift the North East region.

 

He also hinted that two to three opposition MLAs might switch over to BJP and bypolls to the seats from where they were elected are likely to take place along with Majuli Assembly seat, which was vacated by Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

 

"I humbly accept the love and blessings of the people of Assam. The winning margins have soared enormously as all the seats were bagged by over 25,000 vote margins. In some seats these are records," Sarma said at a press conference here.

 

Not only in Assam, the NEDA (the regional wing of NDA of which Sarma is the convenor) has won all the seats in the by-poll in Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland. "This is again a proof that people of the region support Modi in his developmental work in the region," Sarma said.

9:15 PM

TMC steam-rolls to victory in all four by-polls in Bengal by massive margins

The ruling Trinamool Congress on Tuesday steam-rolled the opposition to score a 4-0 clean sweep in by-elections held on October 30. In a major setback to BJP, the saffron camp's candidates lost their deposits in three constituencies Dinhata, Gosaba and Khardaha as they failed to win one-sixth of valid votes polled.

 

The BJP candidate from Santipur was the only one who managed not to lose his deposit by polling a tad over a fifth of the votes cast.

 

The TMC wrested the Dinhata and Santipur seats in Coochbehar and Nadia districts respectively from the BJP by huge margins, to raise its tally to 217 in the 294-member West Bengal assembly.

 

The BJP, whose predecessor Jan Sangh was founded by Bengal's Hindu Mahasabha leader Syama Prasad Mookerjee, saw its tally came down to 75 from an earlier 77. The ruling TMC also retained the Khardah and Gosaba assembly seats in North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas districts respectively by impressive margins.

8:15 PM

By-election results reflect on Modi: Congress

The Congress on Tuesday cited results in the by-elections were a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s performance. "Every victory for the Congress is a victory of our party worker. Keep fighting hate. No fear!" Gandhi said on Twitter after the bypoll results came in,” said Rahul Gandhi on Twitter after the party’s victories in Himachal and Rajasthan.

7:18 PM

JD (U) wins both seats in Bihar

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) won both assembly seats in Bihar on Tuesday. JD (U) candidate Aman Bhushan Hajari won Kusheshwar Asthan by defeating the Rashtriya Janata Dal with a margin of 12,695 votes, the Indian Express reported. In Tarapur, Rajeev Kumar Singh won by 3,852 votes.

6:33 PM

BJP, ally win 5 seats in Assam

The BJP and an ally on Tuesday won all five assembly seats in Assam after by elections on October 30. "People of northeast have reposed their faith in the leadership of PM Modi," said BJP leader and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma about the results.

5:50 PM

Congress wins Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal

The Congress party has won the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh. It also won three Assembly seats in the state, upsetting the ruling BJP. Congress candidate Pratibha Singh defeated the BJP’s Khushal Thakur in a close contest, multiple news organisations said

 

5:47 PM

Congress wins Maharashtra bypoll

Congress candidate Jitesh Antapurkar is set to win the Deglur assembly bypoll in Maharashtra, leading by 39,400 votes over BJP's Subhash Sabane at the end of Round 27.