New Delhi: Five months after its landslide victory in the general elections, the BJP has won just 16 seats in the by-elections to 51 Assembly constituencies across 17 states.
The Congress, which was decimated in the general elections in May, has bagged 11 seats.
In Uttar Pradesh, where by-elections were held for 11 Assembly seats, the BJP won 7, its ally Apna Dal got 1, and the Samajwadi Party won 3. Notable among the SP winners was
Tazeen Fatma, a Rajya Sabha member and wife of senior party leader Azam Khan. In Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal won two seats and the AIMIM and the ruling Janata Dal-United won one. An independent also won one seat.
In Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, 6 seats were at stake, out of which the BJP bagged two and was leading in one while the Congress won the remaining 3. A notable loss was that of Alpesh Thakor, who left the Congress to join the BJP.
The Congress secured victory in three of the four seats in Punjab - Phagwara, Mukerian and Jalalabad - defeating two BJP and a Shiromani Akali Dal candidates, respectively. However, the party faced defeat in the Dakha seat to the Akali Dal.
The Congress also won two of the five seats in Kerala - Ernakulam and Aroor - while its ally, the Indian Union Muslim League, won the Manjeshwar seat. In Assam, the BJP won the Ratabari, Rangapara and Sonari seats in Assam while the All India United Demoratic Front won the Jania seat.
The BJP won Martamrumtek (BL) and Gangtok (BL) in Sikkim while the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha secured the Poklok Kamrang seat. The BJP secured victory from Himachal Pradesh's Dharamshala and Pachhad seats where it had fielded Vishal Nehria and Reena Kashyap, respectively, defeating an Independent and Congress candidate.
Independent candidate Chakat Aboh won from Khonsa West constituency in Arunachal Pradesh's defeating Independent candidate Azet Homtok by a margin of 1,887 votesIn Rajasthan, Congress's Rita Choudhary defeated BJP's Sushila Singra from Mandawa seat but the party faced defeat from the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party in Khinwsar seat where Narayan Beniwal defeated its Harendra Midha.
