Rajnath Singh, BJP
Not sure if the just-resigned Uttar Pradesh chief minister belongs in here, really -- for, he won the battle, but lost the war.
Singh's victory from Haidergarh constituency (his second; the first was in a by-election in 2001) is nothing to cheer about when you consider his party's rout in the state. Anyway, he has put in his papers.
Mayawati, BSP
The Bahujan Samaj Party general secretary is a double winner, bagging both Harora and Jehangirganj. In 1996 she had won Harora for the first time, scoring 84,647 votes against the Samajwadi candidate's 57,229 votes. She again won it in the 1988 by-election.
Mayawati has served as UP chief minister twice. In the running for the post again now, she is said to be willing to give her right hand to keep Mulayam Singh Yadav from coming to power.
J Jayalalithaa, AIADMK
Of course the lady floored the DMK's Vaigai Sekhar in the Andipatti by-election. With a heavyweight margin of 41,200 votes, which is her all-time best. Now everything is set for her return as Tamil Nadu's chief minister.
Jyotiraditya Scindia, Congress
The king of Gwalior had a second coronation. His late father Madhavrao Scindia's name, and memory, stood him in good stead. Result: a royal margin of 450,000 votes over the BJP's Desh Raj Singh Yadav.
H D Deve Gowda, Janata Dal-S
The former prime minister won the Kanakapura Lok Sabha bypoll in Karnataka, defeating his nearest rival and Karnataka Cooperation Minister D K Shivakumar of the Congress. Margin: 53,000 votes. The JD-S wrested the seat from the Congress.
Bibi Jagir Kaur, SAD
The former SGPC president made it from Bholath, Punjab, defeating her nearest rival, Sukhpal Singh Khera of the Congress, by a margin of over 15,000 votes.
Lalji Tandon, BJP
He defeated his closest rival, Veerendra Bhatia of the Samajwadi Party, by a margin of 14,000 votes. And with that, the BJP was able to retain its hold over four of the five assembly seats in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's parliamentary constituency.
Pramod Tiwari, Congress
The UP Congress Legislature Party leader won the prestigious Rampur Khas assembly seat for the seventh time in a row, defeating Apna Dal's Pushpa Devi by over 80,000 votes. All the others, including Pushpa Devi, lost their deposits.
Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Congress
A former chief minister of Punjab, Bhattal won in Lehragaga, defeating her nearest rival, Niranjan Singh of the Shiromani Akali Dal, by a margin of 6,353 votes.
Parkash Singh Badal, SAD
The outgoing Punjab chief minister defeated his nearest rival, cousin Mahesh Inder Singh, an independent candidate, by 23,929 votes from the Lambi constituency. In 1997, he had led the Akali Dal to victory in the assembly poll and become chief minister for the third time. He first became CM in 1970.
Captain Amarinder Singh, Congress
The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief was elected from Patiala Town. He floored his nearest rival, Sarup Singh Sehgal of the SAD, by 27,000 votes. Capt Singh is the frontrunner for the Punjab chief minister's post. Formerly a member of the SAD, he has served as the state agriculture minister.
Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, BJP
The Uttaranchal chief minister won the Kapkot seat defeating Congress candidate Chamu Singh Ghasial. An RSS pracharak, he had become the state's second chief minister in October 2001 when he replaced Nityanand Swami, under whom he was minister for energy, irrigation, law, and legislative affairs.
Amita Singh, BJP
Was declared elected from Amethi (seat no 105), defeating her nearest rival, Ashish Shukla of the Congress, by a margin of 18,765 votes. The seat was earlier held by the Congress.
Narendra Modi, BJP
The Gujarat chief minister, true to expectation, won the Rajkot II seat comfortably. He polled 14,700 votes more than his Congress opponent Ashwin Mehta. You can read up on him over here, in this pre-election interview.
...and The Vanquished
Nityanand Swami, BJP
The former chief minister of Uttaranchal lost the prestigious Laxman Chowk seat.
Radhabinod Koijam: The Samata Party candidate lost from Thangmeiband in Manipur.
Munni Devi, Rashtriya Krantikari Dal
Phoolan Devi's younger sister bit the dust in the Mirzapur Lok Sabha bypoll. The Samajwadi Party's Ram Rati Bhind emerged the winner. Munni Devi finished a poor fifth.
Suneeta Devi, Congress
Floored in Mahona, Uttar Pradesh. V P Singh's niece lost to the Samajwadi Party's Rajendra Prasad.
