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Party sees bye-election wins in WB, TN and Maharashtra as a sign that people want to give them a mandate
While the Congress continued to face setbacks in the assembly elections in three northeastern states, the Grand Old Party on Thursday managed to win three seats in the bye-elections in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
The party saw the wins in the bye-elections in three states as a major sign of its revival.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “The results in the bye-elections are encouraging. We managed to open our account in West Bengal. We also managed to win in Maharashtra’s Kasabpeth after a gap of over 30 years, which is considered a bastion of the RSS and the BJP.”
“In Tamil Nadu’s Erode, our senior party leader EVKS Elangovan won with a huge margin (66,233),” Ramesh added.
He further said, “The results of bye-elections are encouraging, and it gives us hope that the people want to give the mandate to us.”
Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal took to Twitter and wrote, “Stunning victory for INC after 28 years in the Kasbapeth by-poll! Proud of Ravi Dhangekar and the Maharashtra Congress team for wresting this bastion from the BJP. Money and muscle power have been lost, and democracy and the people’s issues have won. BJP’s time is up.”
The Kasabpeth seat in Maharashtra’s Pune is considered a strong bastion of the RSS and the BJP. Dhangekar defeated BJP nominee Hemant Rasane in the bye-election.
The BJP was in power in the Kasbapeth constituency for 28 years. Girish Bapat, the current BJP MP from Pune, represented the seat five times till 2019.
Meanwhile, BJP’s Ashwini Jagtap won from the Chinchwad seat, defeating NCP’s Vitthal alias Nana Kate.
The bye-election in Chinchwad was necessitated due to the death of incumbent BJP MLA Laxman Jagtap. Ashwini Jagtap is the wife of BJP MLA Laxman Jagtap.
Venugopal also thanked the Maha Vikas Agadi (MVA) allies NCP and Shiv Sena for the victory and said, “Thank you to our MVA allies Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray and Aditya Thackeray and the entire Shiv Sena and NCP cadre for working as a united team and securing this victory! This bye-election result is the start of a new chapter in Indian politics.”
Commenting on the victory in West Bengal, Venugopal said, “Congrats to Bayron Biswas, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and team West Bengal Congress for the Sagardighi bye-election victory, after 51 years, in a three-cornered fight. The message is clear – no battle is difficult if fought with all our might. This is a watershed moment for Congress’s re-emergence in WB.”
On victory in Tamil Nadu’s Erode, the Congress leader said, “EVKS Elangovan’s thumping victory in the Erode bye-election reaffirms the goodwill that Congress enjoys in Tamil Nadu. Thank you to MK Stalin and the DMK team for your support in this comprehensive victory for our time-tested alliance!”
However, the Congress lost the Ramgarh assembly seat to the AJSU in Jharkhand bye-elections. Its candidate, Bajrang Mahto (93,699 votes), came in second behind AJSU’s Sunita Choudhary, who polled 1,15,669 votes.
