Bypoll results 2017 Highlights: Congress’ Hemant Katare wins MP’s Ater by 857 votes, BJP wins 5 seats

Trinamool Congress candidate Chandrima Bhattacharya won the bypoll from the Kanthi Dakshin assembly constituency defeating her nearest BJP rival Sourindra Mohan Jana by 42,526 votes. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha won the Littipara constituency.

Thirty eight booths of Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency also vote on Thursday after the Election Commission ordered repolling following violence in the April 9 by-election, in which 8 people were killed in clashes with security forces in Kashmir.

The Aam Aadmi Party suffered a big blow to the just days ahead of crucial civic polls. The BJP won the seat, which fell vacant after AAP legislator Jarnail Singh quit to contest against Shiromani Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal in the Punjab assembly elections.

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7.15 pm: Congress workers in Madhya Pradesh celebrate the party’s victory in Ater. Senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia tweets that the credit of the party’s victory goes to the workers. “We are united and will continue our struggle.”

5.55 pm: Hemant Katare has won Ater bypoll in Madhya Pradesh by 857 votes. The contest in Ater was considered as a fight between two heavyweights: chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Before the formal announcement of the results, CM Chouhan tweeted,” “We accept people’s mandate in Ater. It’s a victory of public opinion in democracy.”

Meanwhile in Kashmir, 2.02% voting was recorded in Budgam where re-polling took place for Srinagar Lok Sabha bypoll at 38 polling stations, reports ANI.

5.15 pm: JMM’s Simon Marandi gets 65,551 votes while BJP’s Hemlal Murmu wins 52,651 votes after 20 rounds of counting ballots. JMM won the seat by 12,900 votes.

Close fight in Ater as Congress’ Katare’s lead has reduced to only 2,848 votes.

4.33 pm: JMM’s Simon Marandi inching towards comfortable win in Jharkhand, leaving rivals behind with 9,227 votes after the 17th round of counting ballots. Jharkhand Congress president Sukhdeo Bhagat said, “It’s defeat of BJP’s wrong policies.”

4.30 pm: In Ater, Katare’s lead crosses 8,000 over BJP’s Arvind Singh Bhadoria.

4.20 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweets congratulations: “Impressive performance by @BJP4India and NDA in the by-polls in different parts of the country. Congratulations to Karyakartas.”

4.10 pm: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah says the EVMs in the two constituencies in the state were not meddled with. The Congress party won both bypolls.

3.50 pm: In Madhya Pradesh’s Ater, Congress candidate Hemant Katare extends his lead by 6,431 votes.

3.40 pm: In Rajouri Garden, Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party suffered a shocking defeat as their candidate remained a distant third throughout the counting process.

While the result won’t have any impact on AAP’s majority in the Delhi assembly (65 MLAs are from AAP and now four from BJP), the scale of loss in the bypoll can trouble its strategists as the city electorate goes to vote again in ten days to choose councillors across the three municipal corporations.

Read more on the implications of the Delhi bypoll result here.

3.35 pm: In Jharkhand’s Littipara, BJP gains ground in the 13th and 14th rounds of voting. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s lead dwindles to 5,783 votes.

3.25 pm: BJP’s Shivnarayan Singh defeats Congress’ Savitri Singh by 25, 476 votes in Bandhavgarh assembly constituency. NOTA gets 3,194 votes here.

3.05 pm: Congress’ Hemant Katare extends lead over BJP’s Arvind Bhadoria by 4565 votes, reports ANI.

Manjinder Singh Sirsa, BJP-SAD’s winning candidate for Delhi’s Rajouri Garden bypoll meets BJP president Amit Shah.

3.00 pm: BJP wins five of 10 assembly seats so far as their candidate Shobha Rani Kushwah wins Dholpur bypoll in Rajasthan defeating Congress’ Banwari Lal Sharma by nearly 40,000 votes.

BJP state president Ashok Parnami said the people have voted for the party and have expressed faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Vasundhara Raje.

“The trends clearly show that people have voted for development. They are happy with the development carried out by the BJP government in the last three years,” Parnami told reporters

Read | Bypolls: BJP continues to dominate , relief for Cong but a big blow for AAP

2:15pm: In Ater, Congress’ Hemant Katare had raised doubts over the signature on an electronic voting machine, suspending counting for some time.

It’s a close contest between the two parties. Congress maintained lead over BJP after counting of postal ballot and after the first round of EVM votes. Later, BJP candidate Arvind Bhadoriya left behind Katare in the second round and maintained lead in the third round 452 votes.

Currently, Congress is leading with over 1000 votes, according to EC data.

2pm: After 10 rounds of counting in Jharkhand’s Littipara assembly constituency, JMM’s Simon Marandi secures 7,395 votes.

BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo says, “We contested the election on development agenda. Our focus will remain so even if poll result doesn’t go in our favour.”

1:25pm: BJP-SAD winner from Delhi’s Rajouri assembly seat MS Sirsa says Arvind Kejriwal should offer resignation. AAP came a distant third in the bypoll, with just over 10,000 votes.

1:20pm: It’s neck and neck in Madhya Pradesh’s Ater, with Congress leading in the constituency with a small margin.

1:15pm: In Jharkhand, JMM camp celebrates as it widens the gap with its rivals by 7,658 votes after ninth round of counting.

1pm: Ruling Congress retains Nanjangud and Gundlupet assembly seats in Karnataka.

Kaale N Keshavamuthy claims victory from Nanjangud with a margin 21,334 votes in Karnataka bypoll.

12:55pm: With the AAP’s humiliating defeat in the Rajouri Garden bypoll, deputy CM Manish Sisodia admits people were upset with the party over its legislator quitting to contest from Punjab.

He said the party will pull up its socks in the upcoming MCD election and try to convince the people of Rajouri Garden by showcasing the “good work” done by the Delhi government.

12:40pm: Trinamool Congress candidate Chandrima Bhattacharya wins from West Bengal’s Kanthi Dakshin

12:30pm: JMM leaves rivals behind with 5,438 votes after seven rounds of counting, in Jharkhand.

12:25pm: BJP MP Manoj Tiwari says: “AAP is a gone case now and Congress didn’t give us a fight... In MCD polls, the swing would be on BJP’s side.”

12:15pm: BJP’s Shivnarayan Singh wins from Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh. It’s the party’s fourth victory in hand.

12pm: BJP wins by-election in Assam. Ronoj Pegu defeated Congress’ Babul Sonowal in Dhemaji assembly constituency.

11: 55am: BJP candidate Shobha Rani Kushwaha leads by 12,427 votes after five rounds of counting in the Dholpur assembly bypoll in Rajasthan. The bypoll was necessitated following disqualification of BSP legislator BL Kushwaha in a murder case.

The BJP surprised observers by pitting his wife Shobha Rani as its candidate against Congress veteran leader Banwari Lal Sharma.

11:50am: Final tally for Rajouri Garden bypoll: Manjinder Singh Sirsa with 40,602 votes. He won by a margin of 14,000 votes.

AAP candidate Harjeet Singh managed to get only 10,243 votes, about 14% of the total votes polled. He will lose his deposit as well.

11:40am:

11:30am: TV reports quote AAP’s Manish Sisodia conceding defeat. “We’ll keep working for Rajouri Garden constituency,” Delhi’s deputy CM says.

11:25am: BJP has nearly clinched Rajouri Garden constituency with a lead of about 12,000 votes so far. Counting of less than 10,000 votes is left.

11:20am: BJP surpasses Congress in Madhya Pradesh’s Ater. With this lead, the party is ahead in six of the ten constituencies -- Ater and Bandhavgarh of Madhya Pradesh, Assam (Dhemaji), Rajasthan (Dholpur), Delhi (Rajouri Garden) and Himachal Pradesh (Bhoranj).

11:10am: After two rounds of counting, BJP candidate Shobha Rani Kushwaha is leading in the bypoll to Dholpur assembly constituency by over 4,700 votes.

10:50am: BJP’s Anil Dhiman wins from Bhoranj seat by 8,433 votes in Himachal Pradesh: ANI

10:45am: BJP is closer a to definite win in Delhi.With six rounds of counting left, BJP is leading with 28,208 votes, Congress second with 20,266 and AAP a distant third with 6,239 votes.

“People have rejected AAP,” says Manjinder Singh Sirsa, adding that “this is the end of the Aam Aadmi Party led Delhi govt.”

10:40am: In Jharkhand, BJP’s Hemlal Murmu gets 2,629 votes while JMM’s Simon Marandi gets 2,552 in third round. JMM is still leading by 1,032 votes.

10:30am: Trinamool Congress is leading in West Bengal with over 52% votes in its favour so far. BJP is second.

10:20am: BJP’s Sirsa is ahead with 23,218 votes in Delhi. Congress’ Channdela is placed at second with 17,290 votes after ninth round of counting.

10:15am: Vote distribution after eight round of counting in Rajouri Garden:

BJP: 19557

Congress: 15972

AAP: 3848

NOTA: 225

10:05am: BJP gets 2467 votes while JMM 2008 in second round of counting in Jharkhand Littipara bypoll.

10am: BJP is ahead in five of the ten assembly constituencies -- Delhi, Rajasthan, MP (Bandhavgarh), Assam, Himachal Pradesh

9:55am: Vote count for Rajouri Garden shows BJP at 17459, Congress: 14459, AAP: 3395 after the seventh round

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9:40am: Current trends:

Assam: BJP leading by 2752 votes from Dhemaji

Madhya Pradesh: BJP leading in Bandhavgarh, Congress in Ater. The bypoll in Bandhavgarh seat was necessitated as MLA Gyan Singh was elected to the Lok Sabha in November last year. In Ater, the by-election was necessitated following the death of Congress leader Satyadev Katare.

West Bengal: TMC’s Chandrima Bhattacharya leading by 2935 votes from Kanthi Dakshin.

9:30am: Aam Aadmi Party, which aims to consolidate its power in Delhi, is currently placed third in Rajouri Garden.

The by-election is a test for AAP’s popularity after a lacklustre performance in assembly elections 2017, in which they assumed the Opposition’s role in Punjab and didn’t win a single seat in Goa. Success in bypolls is crucial for BJP and Congress’ relevance in city’s politics.

Read | Delhi: Rajouri Garden bypoll counting on, BJP leads by 3,700 votes

9:20am: Election Commission’s early results show BJP leading in Himachal while Congress stands second in Bhoranj assembly seat.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is taking the lead in Litipara, EC data shows.

9:15am: BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa leading by 1011 votes in Rajouri Garden, early trends show.

The BJP-SAD combine’s candidate is a veteran face in city politics. He had won the seat in 2013.

9:05am: BJP’s Anil Dhiman leading on Bhoranj seat by 1364 votes in Himachal Pradesh, reports ANI

9am: Early trends indicate Congress leads in Karnataka’s Gundlupet and Nanjangud seats after first round of counting.

8am: Counting of votes begins in Rajouri Garden, MP’s Bandhavgarh: ANI

(With agency inputs)