BJP wins 4 out of 10 seats, leads in two others, Congress grabs two seats in Karnataka; TMC victorious in West Bengal

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday won in four out of 10 Assembly constituencies across eight states where by-elections were held on Sunday.
The BJP is leading in one of the Assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh and one in Rajasthan.
Ruling Congress retains Nanjangud and Gundlupet Assembly seats in Karnataka by-polls, while Trinamool Congress won in West Bengal.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was leading in the Littipara Assembly constituency in Jharkhand.
The Assembly constituencies where by-polls were held on Sunday are Rajouri Garden in Delhi, Littipara in Jharkhand, Nanjangud and Gundlupet in Karnataka, Dholpur in Rajasthan, Kanthi Dakshin in West Bengal, Ater and Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh, Bhoranj in Himachal Pradesh and Dhemaji in Assam.
Delhi, Rajouri Garden by-polls: With 40,602 votes, BJP’s Manjinder Singh Sirsa defeats Congress’ Meenakshi Chandela, who won 25,950 votes. AAP’s Harjeet Singh won 10,243 votes after 17 rounds of counting
Himachal Pradesh, Bhoranj by-polls: Dr Anil Dhiman (BJP) registers thumping victory with a margin of 8,290 votes over Congress’ Parmila Devi after 13 rounds of counting
Assam, Dhemaji by-polls: BJP’s Ranoj Pegu won 75,217 votes, while Congress’s Babul Sonowal trailed with 65,932 votes after 13 rounds of counting
West Bengal, Kanthi Dakshin by-polls: TMC’s Chandrima Bhattacharya (95,369 votes) defeats Sourindra Mohan Jana of BJP (52,843 votes)
Karnataka, Gundlupet by-polls: Congress’ MC Mohan Kumari (Geetha Mahadev Prasad) wins (90,260 votes), defeats BJP candidate CS Niranjan Kumar – 79,383 votes
Karnataka, Nanjangud by-polls: With 86,212 votes, Congress party’s Kalale N Keshavamurthy wins over V Srinivas Prasad of BJP (64,878 votes)
Rajasthan, Dholpur by-polls: BJP’s Shobha Rani Kushavah – 52,660 votes, Congress’ Banwari Lal Sharma – 27,104 votes
Madhya Pradesh, Ater by-polls: Arvind Singh Bhadoria of BJP – 19,431 votes, Congress candidate Hemant Katare – 19,301 votes
Madhya Pradesh, Bandhavgarh by-polls: BJP’s Shivnarayan Singh “Lallu Bhaiya” wins (74,356) over Savitri Singh of Congress (48,880 votes)
Jharkhand, Littipara by-polls: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s candidate Simon Marandi – 26,000 votes, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Hemlal Murmu – 20,971 votes

BJP retains Bandhavgarh Assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh after defeating rival Congress by margin of over 25,000 votes.
Delhi, Rajouri Garden by-polls: With 40,602 votes, BJP’s Manjinder Singh Sirsa defeats Congress’ Meenakshi Chandela, who won 25,950 votes. AAP’s Harjeet Singh won 10,243 votes after 17 rounds of counting
Himachal Pradesh, Bhoranj by-polls: Dr Anil Dhiman (BJP) registers thumping victory with a margin of 8,290 votes over Congress’ Parmila Devi after 13 rounds of counting
Assam, Dhemaji by-polls: BJP’s Ranoj Pegu won 75,217 votes, while Congress’s Babul Sonowal trailed with 65,932 votes after 13 rounds of counting
West Bengal, Kanthi Dakshin by-polls: TMC’s Chandrima Bhattacharya – 80,988 votes, Sourindra Mohan Jana of BJP – 41,348 votes
Rajasthan, Dholpur by-polls: BJP’s Shobha Rani Kushavah – 33,385 votes, Congress’ Banwari Lal Sharma – 17,332 votes
Madhya Pradesh, Ater by-polls: Arvind Singh Bhadoria of BJP – 11,685 votes, Congress candidate Hemant Katare – 11,172 votes
Madhya Pradesh, Bandhavgarh by-polls: BJP’s Shivnarayan Singh “Lallu Bhaiya” – 62,184 votes, Savitri Singh of Congress – 41,672 votes
Karnataka, Gundlupet by-polls: Congress’ MC Mohan Kumari (Geetha Mahadev Prasad) – 55,703 votes, BJP candidate CS Niranjan Kumar – 50,896 votes
Karnataka, Nanjangud by-polls: Congress party’s Kalale N Keshavamurthy – 72,568 votes, V Srinivas Prasad of BJP – 54,399 votes
Jharkhand, Littipara by-polls: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s candidate Simon Marandi – 19,183 votes, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Hemlal Murmu – 14,284 votes
BJP’s Anil Dhiman wins Bhoranj (Himachal Pradesh) Assembly by-poll by a margin of 8,290 votes.
Delhi, Rajouri Garden by-polls: BJP’s Manjinder Singh Sirsa ahead of Congress’ Meenakshi Chandela by 9,062 votes
West Bengal, Kanthi Dakshin by-polls: TMC’s Chandrima Bhattacharya is leading by around 23,000 votes
Rajasthan, Dholpur by-polls: BJP’s Shobha Rani Kushavah is comfortably ahead of Congress’ Banwari Lal Sharma
Madhya Pradesh, Ater by-polls: Arvind Singh Bhadoria of BJP is leading
Madhya Pradesh, Bandhavgarh by-polls: BJP’s Shivnarayan Singh Lallu Bhaiya is ahead
Karnataka, Gundlupet by-polls: MC Mohan Kumari (Geetha Mahadev Prasad) of Congress is leading
Karnataka, Nanjangud by-polls: Congress party’s Kalale N Keshavamurthy is ahead of V Srinivas Prasad of BJP
Assam, Dhemaji by-polls: BJP’s Ranoj Pegu is leading
Jharkhand, Littipara by-polls: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s candidate Simon Marandi leading with 2,353 votes over Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Hemlal Murmu
Himachal Pradesh, Bhoranj by-polls: Dr Anil Dhiman (BJP) is ahead of Congress’ Parmila Devi
The Congress is leading in Ater in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhind district while the BJP is ahead in Bandhavgarh. After the first round, Congress’ Hemant Katere was leading in Ater constituency by a margin of 44 votes against BJP’s Arvind Singh Bhadoria, an election official said. BJP’s Shivnaryan Singh was ahead in Bandhavgarh against his rival Savitri Singh of Congress with 5,477 votes after the fourth round. Earlier, postal votes were counted.
Delhi by-polls: The BJP appeared headed for a victory in the Rajouri Garden Assembly constituency after the end of fifth round of counting, relegating the incumbent AAP to the third position. With 13,542 votes in his kitty, BJP candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa was ahead of his Congress rival Meenakshi Chandela by nearly 4,000 votes. AAP’s Harjeet Singh had 2,668 votes to his name by the end of the fifth round of counting.
Early trends show BJP leading on 5 out of 10 Assembly constituencies in by-polls in 8 states. Counting is underway.
Madhya Pradesh by-polls: BJP is leading from Bandhavgarh while Congress is ahead from Ater
West Bengal by-polls: TMC’s Chandrima Bhattacharya is leading by 2,935 votes from Kanthi Dakshin
Assam by-polls: BJP candidate is ahead by 2,752 votes from Dhemaji
BJP’s Shobha Rani Kushavah is leading from Dholpur in Rajasthan by-polls.
Jharkhand by-polls: Simon Marandi of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is leading from Litipara
Delhi Rajouri Garden by-poll: BJP candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa is leading by 1,011 votes
Himachal Pradesh by-poll: BJP’s Anil Dhiman is leading on Bhoranj seat by 1,364 votes
Karnataka by-polls: Early trends indicate Congress’ lead on Gundlupet and Nanjangud seats after the first round of counting
Aam Aadmi Party’s Harjeet Singh, Congress’ Meenakshi Chandela and BJP-SAD’s Manjinder Singh Sirsa are in the fray for the seat. The seat fell vacant as AAP’s Jarnail Singh resigned to contest the Punjab Assembly polls.
Delhi’s Rajouri Garden Assembly by-poll saw disinterested voting, registering just 47 percent. In the 2015 Assembly Elections, when the Aam Aadmi Party swept to power, the constituency had witnessed 72 percent.
Assam’s Dhemaji constituency saw 66.97 percent voting. The by-election was necessitated as BJP lawmaker Pradan Baruah contested and won the by-election to the Lok Sabha from the Lakhimpur constituency. Sarbananda Sonowal vacated the seat after winning from the Majuli Assembly constituency on becoming the Chief Minister. VVPAT machines were used in polls for the first time in the state.
Amid reports of violence and allegations of booth capturing, over 60 percent balloting was recorded in bypolls for Ater in Bhind district and 65 percent in Bandhavgarh in Umaria district. There were also instances of stone pelting and reports of alleged firing in Ater. Congress candidate Hemant Katare accused the BJP of attacking his car and of booth capturing. State Congress chief Arun Yadav accused the BJP and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of using the state machinery to influence the voting.
In Himachal Pradesh, by-poll for the Bhoranj seat saw over 63 percent voting. The Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines were used in the state for the first time. There were technical snags at a few places but the machines were subsequently replaced, an official said.
Around 82 percent voting was seen in West Bengal’s Kanthi Dakshin Assembly by-poll.
Jharkhand’s Littipara by-poll saw 72.15 percent voting. Ten candidates were in the fray for the seat, the contest for which was a prestige issue for both the ruling BJP and opposition Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).
Karnataka’s Gundlupet saw a record 80 percent turnout while 76 percent was registered in Nanjangud (reserved) Assembly constituency. The by-poll for Nanjangud (Scheduled Caste) in Mysuru district was necessitated by the resignation of former Congress lawmaker and Revenue Minister Srinivasa Prasad, who is re-contesting on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket. The ruling Congress has fielded K Keshavamurthy.