After setback, BJP to introspect "unexpected" mandate

After conceding ground to political rivals, BJP on Tuesday said, it will introspect and review the results.

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said, "We have won in many places and at some places, the results have been not up to our expectations... These by-polls have been fought over local issues and in places where the state governments have full majority."

Rajasthan BJP President Ashok Parnami said the party will do complete review and introspection of the results.

As per the results declared, three Lok Sabha seats are shared between BJP, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Out of 32 Assembly constituencies that went to polls last Saturday, latest trends show that BJP got 12 seats, SP got 9 seats, Congress got 5 seats while others got 4 seats.

The biggest setback for BJP perhaps came from Uttar Pradesh, the state where 'Modi magic' worked miracle for the party just four months ago during the Lok Sabha elections.

Of the 11 Assembly seats that went to polls in UP, the BJP got 2 seats, while Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party emerged as the biggest gainer by winning in 9 seats.

Looking by the Lok Sabha’s trend, BJP lose 8 seats, all of them went to SP.

Mulayam’s party won in Balha, Hamirpur, Bijnore, Nighasan, Charkhari, Sirathu and Thakurdwara Assembly seats.

The lone Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency was also retained by SP.

Mulayam's grand nephew Tej Pratap Yadav won it by over 3 lakh votes.

By-polls took place as party supremo Mulayam had to vacate the seat, since he had also won from Azamgarh Lok sabha seat.

This clearly suggests that Modi-wave has started to fade, especially in the state where Narendra Modi-led BJP won 71 out of 80 seats during the General Elections held in May.

Uttar Pradesh was the only one, where BJP has to bear the burnt.

Big jolt for the BJP also came from Rajasthan & Gujarat, both being considered as BJP bastions now, with Gujarat being Modi’s home state.

In Gujarat where 9 Assembly by-polls were conducted, BJP won in six seats.

These are Maninagar, Tankara, Talaja, Anand, Matar and Limkheda.

Three seats namely Deesa, Khambhalia and Mangrol went to Congress which was earlier held by BJP.

The by-election in Vadodara Lok Sabha seat was of course retained by BJP.

The constituency went to by-polls since Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose to vacate Vadodara and retain Varanasi seat after winning both of them in the Lok Sabha elections.

In Rajasthan where by-elections in four Assembly constituencies took place, Congress has returned to the fray by snatching three seats-- Surajgarh, Weir and Nasirabad from the clutches of BJP.

In Seemandhra(Andhra Pradesh), N Chandrababu Naidu-led ruling party Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate in the Nandigama seat that went to polls.

The Medak Lok Sabha seat in Telangana also witnessed by-poll after the seat was vacated by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao after he became the Chief Minister of India's newest state.

TRS candidate candidate K. Prabhakar Reddy won it.

As for the other states, the in Assam, BJP won the Silchar Assembly seat while Lakhipur and Jamunamukh assembly constituencies went to Congress and All India United Democratic Front (AIDUF) respectively.

In Tripura the left retained the Manu Assembly seat while in Sikkim independent candidate won the Rangang-Yangang Assembly seat.

The only silver-lining perhaps came from West Bengal, where the saffron-party opened its account in the state’s Assembly for the first time in 15 years.

The BJP claimed its first Assembly seat in the state after 1999 as its candidate from Basirhat South in North 24 Parganas in the Indo-Bangladesh border constituency, Samik Bhattacharjee, won the elections.

It is noteworthy to mention that, In 1999, Badal Bhattacharya had won the Ashoknagar assembly seat - that too in a by-election.

It was the only time in past that the BJP had an MLA in the state.

However, the BJP was in alliance with the Trinamool Congress that time.

But barring that, there’s nothing worthy of mention from BJP’s part, which has been alleged by allies with basking in 'Modi-fever' more than ever.

A day when the results of by-elections may force the BJP top-shots to re-introspect their policy, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party on the other hand are expected to regain some lost grounds with this gains.

Buoyed by the results, Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot took a dig at BJP.

He said, “We've won 3 of the 4 seats. The BJP should take a lesson from these elections and introspect”.

“Everyone said the Congress will not perform in Rajasthan, but I congratulate the party workers for this performance,” he added.

Pilot asserted that his party will continue to work towards strengthening the organization and double its effort in the upcoming civic polls.

He said, “The young people of Rajasthan are reposing their faith in the Congress party again.”

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minster and SP leader Akhilesh Yadav has termed the results as people’s befitting reply against communal forces.

Akhiesh apparently mocked at Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi, saying that "Acche din, acchi baat...acche parinaam aa gaye."

He said, “The people of UP have rejected communal forces. We will continue to work for development issues.”

On the other hand, BJP said, it will introspect and review the results.

Ashok Parnami said the party accepts the public mandate.

"We welcome public mandate and accept our defeat on three seats of Weir, Surajgarh, and Nasirabad with great humility," Parnami said.

"We will do complete review and introspection of the results. What were the weaknesses and faults, we will look into it. Also fix responsibility on those engaged in electioneering," he added.