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The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) on Thursday retained the Erode East bypoll segment in the western Tamil Nadu town with an emphatic win against the K Palaniswami-led All India Anna DMK, prompting Chief Minister M K Stalin to bill it as an endorsement of his near two year-old government's "Dravidian model" of governance.
Palaniswami charged the ruling dispensation with "misuse of authority, money power and violence" to win the election.
Setting a record of sorts, SPA candidate EVKS Elangovan of the Congress received more than one lakh of the around 1.70 lakh votes polled on February 27, galloping ahead of his nearest AIADMK rival KS Thennarasu by around 66,000 votes.
At the end of 15 rounds of counting, Elangovan, a former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president and ex-Union minister, polled a little over 1.10 lakh votes, becoming the first candidate to cross the one lakh votes mark in the constituency, since its creation in 2010 following the delimitation excercise.
Thennarasu, a former legislator from Erode, got around 44,000 votes, according to Election Commission authorities.
Naam Tamizhar Katchi's Meneka Navaneethan and the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam’s Anand forfeited their deposit.
A total of 77 candidates were in the fray.
Much prestige was invested by both the DMK and its arch-rival AIADMK in the fiercely contested electoral battle as this was the first by-poll since the former came to power in 2021, and a year ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
With the "historic and grand win", the ground was being prepared for an even bigger victory of the SPA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Stalin told reporters in Chennai.
"During the campaign I repeatedly sought the people's support for the Dravidian model of governance. People have given a verdict saying it should be done with more vigour," he said.
The DMK pitches the Dravidian model of governance as an inclusive development model.
"I sought an endorsement of the DMK government's Dravidian model and asked them to gauge our government. People have gauged and have strengthened this government," he added.
Elangovan lauded the honest and sincere propaganda work by the DMK Ministers and members of the party for his victory. He assured that as MLA he would implement all required developmental works in the constituency with the help of the CM.
S Muthusamy, Tamil Nadu minister for urban development and housing and a local strongman, said the victory showed the public faith in the incumbent government. DMK and Congress supporters celebrated Elangovan's win.
Palaniswami, in a statement, thanked those who had voted for his party and levelled allegations of irregularities against the DMK to win the bypoll.
Various instances of alleged irregularities, including 'herding' of people by the DMK during campaign, was taken up with the authorities concerned by the AIADMK, but to no avail, he said.
"Atrocities and fascist procedures will not win forever; will soon perish," he said.
A distraught Thennarasu alleged money power won and claimed "democracy lost".
Though rival AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam initially fielded his nominee, he later withdrew him.
BJP state president K Annamalai said he did not see the win as an endorsement of the government's performance and indicated factors like "sympathy" were also there, apparently referring to Elangovan being the father of deceased Congress MLA E Thirumahan Everaa, whose demise in January necessitated the bypoll.
People might have preferred the ruling coalition nominee knowing that his defeat would not make much difference.
As many as 18 Congress MLAs were elected in the 2021 polls and the strength came down by one due to the vacancy created following Thirumahan Everaa's death. Its strength will now be 18 again, in the 234-member DMK-dominated House.
The AIADMK has a total of 66 legislators.
Congress opens account in West Bengal assembly
The Congress on Thursday secured a seat in the present Bengal assembly as its candidate Bayron Biswas won the Sagardighi bypoll, defeating the nearest rival of the Trinamool Congress by 22,980 votes.
After 16 rounds of counting, Biswas, who enjoys the support of the Left, bagged 87,667 votes, according to the Election Commission (EC) website.
Debasish Banerjee of the TMC garnered 64,681 votes, while Dilip Saha of the Bharatiya Janata Party received 25,815 votes, the EC website revealed.
Byelection to the constituency, seen as a prestige fight for state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury in his home district of Murshidabad, was necessitated following the death of state minister Subrata Saha in December last year.
In the 2021 assembly elections, the Congress and the Left Front had failed to open their account in the West Bengal assembly, for the first time since independence.
In straight fight, BJP loses stronghold Kasba Peth to Congress
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday failed to retain Kasba Peth Assembly seat, its stronghold in Maharashtra's Pune district, as Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar defeated the saffron party nominee Hemant Rasane in the bypoll.
The BJP was in power in Kasba Peth constituency for 28 years. Girish Bapat, the current BJP MP from Pune, represented the seat five times till 2019.
This time, Dhangekar, having support of the Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the Nationalist Congress Party, Congress and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), managed to breach the BJP's stronghold.
Dhangekar polled 73,194 votes while Rasane received 62,244 votes, as per figures on the Election Commission's website after the final round of counting.
In 2019, BJP's Mukta Tilak had won the seat. She died after battling cancer in December 2022, which necessitated the by-election in the constituency, located in the old area of Pune city.
The victory of Congress in Kasba is significant as it was the first direct contest between the ruling BJP-Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the opposing MVA after the change of the state government in June last year.
"This is people's victory. The day I filled the nomination form, people of Kasba Peth constituency decided to make me victorious," said an elated Dhangekar, who was seen being carried by Congress workers on their shoulders outside the votes counting centre here after the result was declared.
BJP's Rasane, while conceding defeat, said he as a candidate failed in this election and will introspect what went wrong and where.
"Earlier, it used to be a triangular contest, but this time it was a straight fight between the BJP and the Congress," he said.
Congress state vice president Mohan Joshi congratulated the Kasba Peth voters for handing over such a "historical" win to the party and the MVA.
"This is the victory of all the MVA workers who fought this election with great unity. This election has shown that money power cannot work," he said.
During the campaigning, the Congress and other MVA constituents had levelled allegations against the BJP of luring voters with the help of money, a charge denied by the saffron party.
As the bypolls to Kasba and Chinchwad seats in Pune had become an issue of prestige for the MVA as well as the ruling Shinde-BJP coalition in the state, big leaders like NCP president Sharad Pawar, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis campaigned for their respective candidates.
The Congress and MVA had criticised the BJP for forcing its Lok Sabha member Girish Bapat, who is ailing, to campaign during the election.
Last month, Bapat had briefly addressed the party workers while sitting in a wheelchair and wearing a nasal cannula.
There was a perception that since the BJP did not give ticket to any family member of Tilak, the Brahmin voters having a sizable number in the constituency were unhappy. But, the BJP had claimed Brahmins were with them.
BJP-backed AJSU defeats Congress’s Mahto in Ramgarh
All Jharkhand Students Union candidate Sunita Choudhary won the by-poll to Jharkhand's Ramgarh seat on Thursday, defeating the UPA-backed Congress's Bajrang Mahto by a margin of 21,970 votes, the Election Commission said.
The AJSU, which tied up with the BJP for the by-poll, secured 1,15,669 votes, while the Congress, an ally of the ruling JMM-led coalition, bagged 93,699 votes after the completion of counting, it said.
Counting of votes for the Ramgarh assembly by-election began at 8 am.
A voter turnout of over 67.96 per cent was recorded in the bypoll, which was held on February 27.
Though 18 candidates, including 14 Independents, were in the fray, the contest was mainly between the Congress and the AJSU.
The by-election was necessitated due to the disqualification of Congress legislator Mamta Devi, following her conviction in a criminal case.
Dead MLA’s wife retains Chinchwad for BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday retained the Chinchwad assembly constituency in Maharashtra in a byelection as the party candidate Ashwini Jagtap won by 36,168 votes.
The byelection was necessitated due to the death of her husband Laxman Jagtap, who was the sitting MLA.
Ashwini Jagtap polled 1,35,603 votes, Nationalist Congress Party’s Vitthal alias Nana Kate got 99,435 votes and independent candidate Rahul Kalate got 44,112 votes, as per the Election Commission's figures.
As many as 2,731 votes were cast in favour of NOTA (None Of The Above)
There were 28 candidates in the fray.
Ashwini Jagtap got 47.23 percent votes. Kate polled 34.63 percent and Kalate 15.36 percent votes.
While the saffron party managed to retain the Chinchwad seat, the party's tally in the Maharashtra assembly fell from 106 to 105 as it lost the bypoll to Kasba assembly seat in neighbouring Pune city to Congress.