Bypolls: BJP & allies win 26 seats, Cong bags 12

Lucknow/Patna: The BJP and its allies on Thursday won 26 of the 51 assembly seats at stake in the bypolls across 18 states, and the Congress emerged victorious in 12 constituencies.

In by-elections to two Lok Sabha seats, Prince Raj of the Lok Jan Shakti Party won in Samastipur (SC) in Bihar defeating Ashok Kumar of the Congress, while Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil of the NCP emerged victorious in Maharashtra's Satara constituency over Udyanraje Pratapsinhmaharaj Bhonsle of the BJP.

The Samajwadi Party turned out to be a major gainer in Uttar Pradesh, wresting a seat each from the ruling BJP and the BSP, while the NDA got eight, one less than it held.

The ruling JD(U) suffered a setback in Bihar managing to win only one of the four seats it contested. Bypolls were held in five seats of which RJD won two and AIMIM one. An Independent won the remaining seat.

The results gave the once-mighty RJD a reason to smile, while Hyderabad MP Owaisi's AIMIM gained a toehold in the state clinching Kishanganj, a Muslim dominated constituency. BJP rebel candidate Karnjeet Singh won the Dharaunda seat as an Independent.

Among the states ruled by the BJP and its allies, bypolls were held for the 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh, followed by six in Gujarat, five in Bihar, four in Assam and two each in Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

The other states where bypolls were held are Punjab (4 seats), Kerala (5 seats), Sikkim (3 seats), Rajasthan (2 seats) and one seat each in Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry, Meghalaya and Telangana.

The BJP and its allies held nearly 30 of these assembly seats, while the Congress had won 12 and the rest were with regional parties.

The ruling BJP and the Congress shared the spoils in Gujarat winning three seats each.