'Honours are even': Chidambaram's 'thought-provoking analysis' of bypoll results
The BJP and its allies on Tuesday won 14 assembly seats while the Congress bagged eight out of 29 seats in the latest round of bypolls, with results mostly favouring ruling parties in the states except in Himachal Pradesh.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday reacted to the outcome of the by-poll elections in 30 assembly constituencies and noted that the results show "the honours are even" today between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition parties. The veteran politician also wondered about the mood of the voters in the 2022 elections in various states including Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
"Here is a thought provoking analysis of the results of by-elections in 30 assembly constituencies," Chidambaram wrote on Twitter while noting, "BJP won 7 seats and its declared allies won 8 seats. Congress won 8 seats. Non-BJP parties won 7 seats of which only 1 seat was won by a crypto ally of the BJP, namely YSR Congress. The other 6 seats were won by parties opposed to the BJP."
"The honours are even today. Which way will the wind blow in 2022? " he then asked, posing a challenge for the BJP ahead of assembly elections in key states next year, including the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
The BJP and its allies on Tuesday won 14 assembly seats while the Congress bagged eight out of 29 seats in the latest round of bypolls, with results mostly favouring ruling parties in the states except in Himachal Pradesh, where the BJP lost all three assembly seats and the prestigious Mandi Lok Sabha constituency to the Congress. In West Bengal as well, BJP's arch-rival Trinamool Congress won all the four assembly seats including the two it had snatched in the assembly elections.
Since the results, the Congress is targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while claiming that the BJP is losing its momentum. "BJP is losing its momentum, especially in Hindi heartland" due to its "anti-people policies," news agency PTI quoted Congress' general secretary KC Venugopal as saying.
The terms of the legislative assemblies of Goa, Manipur, Punjab and Uttarakhand are coming to an end in March 2022, while the term of the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly is scheduled to end in May next year. Polls are also due in Himachal Pradesh in December next year.
(With agency inputs)
