Mamata wins Howrah, Modi sweeps Gujarat
BY MPost6 Jun 2013 12:38 AM GMT
MPost6 Jun 2013 12:38 AM GMT
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday silenced her critics with Trinamool Congress winning the by-elections for Howrah Lok Sabha seat. Following the breakout of Saradha Chit Fund Scam, Banerjee has been under fire from various quarters and her critics said that the beginning of her end had begun.Â
However, proving everyone wrong, Trinamool candidate Prasun Banerjee, a former national soccer captain, won the Howrah Lok Sabha seat defeating CPI(M) candidate Sridip Bhattacherjee by over 27,000 votes.
The victory comes as a major confidence booster for TMC. Banerjee said, ‘We fought alone against all parties. It is a message: Ekla Cholo Re.’Â
The day also saw the stocks of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi rise as the BJP swept the by-elections to two Lok Sabha and four Assembly seats in Gujarat. The victory must have been sweet for Modi, whose prime opponent Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar suffered a blow as his party lost the bypoll for Maharajganj Lok Sabha seat. The Congress managed to win the assembly bypolls in Maharashtra.
Wresting all six seats from the Congress in Gujarat, the BJP won the Lok Sabha by elections in Porbandar and Banaskantha and bagged the Assembly seats of Limbadi, Morva Hadaf, Jetpur and Doraji. Interestingly, the BJP candidate Vithhal Radadia, who defected from the Congress after a controversy last year when he brandished a gun at a toll booth, won the Porbandar Lok Sabha seat.
‘The 100 per cent victory in Gujarat is symptomatic of the people’s anger against the Congress-led UPA at the Centre and the message to the Congress is that they should pack up,’ said Modi.
On the other hand, the defeat of ruling JD(U) in Bihar was a major victory for RJD chief Lalu Prasad. RJD’s Prabhunath Singh won the seat by defeating JD(U) candidate PK Shahi. The Congress displayed a dismissal performance with the party drawing a blank in Lok Sabha and winning the lone by-election to Yavatmal assembly constituency in Maharashtra.
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