Mixed outcome for parties in Assembly and Parliamentary by-polls

Win in two assembly by-polls in Haryana put some ointment on the ruling Congress after it facing humiliating defeat in the Karnataka state assembly elections. However, victory was not absolute for the Congress as it lost one seat in Haryana assembly by-poll and lost other by-elections for the two Lok Sabha seats, while one of its allies at the Centre-NCP faced defeat at the hands of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.

Congress successfully retained the Indri and Gohana in Haryana, but the third seat of Adampur won by the newly formed Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) by the former chief minister Bhajan Lal. Haryana's former chief minister Bhajan Lal was expelled from the Congress after he joined the Haryana Janhit Congress floated by his son Kuldeep Bishnoi in the first week of December last year.

In fact, it was a big jolt for the Congress as the constituency was skilfully dominated by Bhajan Lal and not by the party which he belonged. The fact came evident after Bhajan Lal trounced his nearest Congress rival Ranjit Singh.

The 'Sunday declaration' was the record 10th time win by the septuagenarian Bhajan Lal. Since 1968 mid-term poll, Lal had been winning the Adampur seat except a single time in 1987, when he moved to the Centre and his wife Jasma Devi romped the seat in that year.

The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) led by veteran Om Prakash Chautal could not even open its account in the poll battle.

The by-polls in the Adampur, Indri and Gohana constituencies were organised three days ago after Bhajan Lal, Rakesh Kamboj and Dharampal Malik were disqualified from the membership of the Vidhan Sabha for defecting to the Haryana Janshakti Congress.

But, again the Congress met its ill-fate in Tura (Meghalaya) and Hamirpur (Himachal Pradesh) Parliamentary seats.

The Saffron Party successfully retained Hamirpur seat in its own BJP ruling state with its candidate Anurag Thakur, son of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal sweeping the seat by a record margin.

The by-polls to Tura (Meghalaya) Lok Sabha seat was triumphed by NCP's Agatha K Sangma, daughter of nine-time MP and former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma. She overpowered over Congress' Zenith Sangma by an unparallel margin.

Shiv Sena showed its adversaries that electorates were still under its control by winning Thane Parliamentary seat over NCP candidate Sanjeev Naik, son of Maharashtra Minister Ganesh Naik.