Bypoll results LIVE: Modi, Shah get wake-up call from Kairana before 2019

Kairana by-election results will serve as a test case for a united Opposition against the PM Narendra Modi-led BJP. Catch all the live updates here

Bypoll results 2018 will be out in a few hours as counting of votes for by-elections to four Lok Sabha seats and 10 Assembly constituencies will be held on Thursday.  

The Lok Sabha seats that went to polls are Palghar and Bhandara-Gondiya in Maharashtra, the politically-crucial Kairana Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh, and the Nagaland parliamentary constituency.

Further, by-elections were held in the Legislative Assemblies of Shahkot (Punjab), Tharali (Uttarakhand), Ampati (Meghalaya), Chengannur (Kerala), Jokihat (Bihar), Gomia (Jharkhand), Silli (Jharkhand), Maheshtala (West Bengal), Noorpur (Uttar Pradesh), and Palus Kadegaon (Maharashtra). 

The Kairana results, in particular, will also serve as a test case for a united Opposition against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Kairana bypoll is also significant as it will test the ruling BJP's popularity in the electorally crucial state of Uttar Pradesh a year ahead of the 2019 general elections.   

In Kairana, BJP's Mriganka Singh is fighting against Rashtriya Lok Dal's (RLD's) Tabassum Hasan, who is supported by the Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). 

Most importantly, the outcome in Kairana will either see the BJP break its losing streak this year in Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha bypolls or hand over a hat-trick to the Opposition.   

The bye-elections were marred by complaints of malfunctioning electronic voting machines (EVMs), which the Election Commission (EC) had to replace at certain places. Subsequently, repolling was held at several booths on Wednesday.    

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Congress wrests Akali Dal stronghold by huge margin

 

Punjab's ruling Congress won the Shahkot Assembly seat on Thursday by a huge margin of over 38,800 votes, wresting the seat from the Shiromani Akali Dal after over 20 years.

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RJD's Jayant Chaudhary thanks Akhilesh, Mayawati, Rahul for party's win in Kairana

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BJP's Mriganka Singh accepts defeat in Kairana, says alliance has "emerged strong"

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RLD's Begum Tabassum Hasan has won the Kairana Lok Sabha seat in UP, according to reports. She had the backing of Congress, Samajwadi Party and BSP. 

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Kairana has a loud message for Modi-Shah before 2019

 

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 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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AJSU had to face a major embarrassment in Jharkhand's Silli seat as its chief and former state Deputy Chief Minister Sudesh Mahto lost to JMM's Seema Mahto by 13,000 votes. 

 

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In Jharkhand's Gomia, JMM's candidate Babita Devi defeated AJSU nominee Lambodar Mahto by 1300 votes while BJP's nominee Madhavlal Singh stood third on the seat.

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JMM retains Silli and Gomia assembly seats in Jharkhand

JMM retained both Silli and Gomia assembly seats in the by-election, state Chief Electoral Officer L Khiangte said.

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RJD on Thursday won the Jokihat Assembly seat, defeating JD(U) by a huge margin of 41,000 votes. 

 

RJD candidate Shahnawaz Alam defeated JD(U)'s Murshid Alam by over 41,000 votes, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Baiju Nath Kumar said. 

 

Jokihat seat, which is located in the Muslim-dominated Araria district of Bihar, was held by JD(U) during the 2015 state elections.  

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In the Bhandara-Gondiya constituency, BJP candidate Hemant Patle, who was leading in the earlier rounds of counting, suddenly fell behind at 94,000 votes, while Nationalist Congress Party's Madhukar Kukde remained ahead with a tally of over 103,000 votes.

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The ruling BJP in Maharashtra was leading in Palghar but trailing in the Bhandara-Gondiya constituency as counting progressed in the May 28 Lok Sabha bypolls on Thursday.

 

In the available vote-count figures at 1 pm, BJP candidate in Palghar, Rajendra Gavit, notched up over 263,000 votes while his nearest Shiv Sena rival Shriniwas Vanga was trailing at around 237,000 votes.

 

They were followed by the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi's Baliram Jadhav at 208,000 votes and Congress's Damodar Shingada was at a distant fourth position with 47,000 votes. 

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