Congress gets upperhand in coalition govt

The victory in Bidar by-election for the Lok Sabha seat has provided an upper-hand to the Congress party against its coalition partner, Janata Dal - Secular (JD-S). This victory has come at a time when the Congress needed that edge to have a final say on matters in the coalition government.

The victory in Bidar against the BJP is also a big achievement for the Congress and things got tougher especially after JD-S fielded a strong candidate, Babu Honna Nayak.

Observers believe that the victory will not only give more breathing space to the chief minister and the Congress in Karnataka, but also help him have a final say, instead of Deve Gowda, especially on key issues like Cabinet expansion and infrastructure upgradation.

Congress candidate N L Narsingharao Suryavanshi defeated his nearest rival BJP's Basavaraj Arya, by a margin of 13,470 votes to win the Bidar Lok Sabha seat on Saturday. Janata Dal - Secular (JD-S) nominee for the seat, Babu Honna Naik, came a distant third. This is the fifth time in succession that the Congress has won the Bidar seat by defeating the BJP.

Describing this victory as "historic", state chief minister N Dharam Singh has said that the much-delayed ministry expansion will now be taken up with ease. According to him, all efforts to push for a Cabinet expansion will take place within a week from now.

After the results were out, a beaming chief minister told reporters that the victory in Bidar was a mandate for the Congress and the people of Bidar had expressed confidence in the AICC president Sonia Gandhi's leadership. Referring to the BJP, he said that the people had rejected reactionary forces that had tried to whip up religious sentiments.

However, he defended the decision of JD-S to contest the election saying that as a political party, it had every right to contest the elections. Singh maintained that Congress' victory would have no impact on the stability of the coalition government.