By-polls may tilt Goa scales

By-elections to 16 Assembly and one Lok Sabha seat ended today, with Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and senior Karnataka politician Sarekoppa Bangarappa in the fray. The Assembly constituencies are spread over six states.

Bangarappa is contesting from the Shimoga parliamentary constituency on a Samajwadi Party ticket this time. He won this seat last time too, but on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket. Hooda's election from Killoi in Haryana is a foregone conclusion.

Besides, by-polls are being held in five Assembly constituencies in Goa, four in Uttar Pradesh, two in Haryana, two in Kerala and one each in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

The Shimoga elections are the most significant because the BJP swept had the constituency last time around, winning six out of eight seats. If Bangarappa introduces the Samajwadi Party in the equation in north Karnataka, it is possible that the BJP's winning streak in the area might be halted.

Although the Congress and JD(S) leaders have ridiculed Bangarappa for having changed parties since 1972, there is no doubt that his popularity in his constituency is undisputed.

The by-polls in Goa, now under President's Rule and where the Assembly is under suspended animation, are crucial as their outcome is likely to rekindle efforts towards forming a popular government.

The Congress and its allies have 17 MLAs and BJP 14 in the Goa Assembly with an effective strength of 34. A United Goan Democratic Party legislator is supporting the BJP.

In Haryana, Hooda's groundswell remains. Hooda, who was a Lok Sabha member from Rohtak, had to quit his Lok Sabha seat to contest Killoi, a pocket borough in order to enter the Assembly. Indian National Lok Dal has put up a candidate against him.