The ruling Left Front in West Bengal appeared heading for another debacle in the assembly bypolls at the hands of Trinamool Congress and Congress.
The ruling Left Front in West Bengal today appeared heading for another debacle in the assembly bypolls at the hands of Trinamool Congress and Congress, even as it was routed in Kerala where Congress retained all the three seats.
In the lone Lok Sabha by-election in Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh, actor-turned-Congress candidate Raj Babbar was leading by 6,870 votes over Dimple Yadav, daughter-in-law of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, at the end of three rounds of counting. The seat fell vacant when Dimple's husband Akhilesh Yadav retained Kannauj and gave up Firozabad.
Of the 31 assembly seats spread over Uttar Pradesh (11), West Bengal (10), Kerala (3) and two each in Assam, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan besides one in Chhattisgarh that went to polls on Saturday, Congress won one seat each in Rajasthan, Assam and Himachal Pradesh, besides the three in Kerala.
In West Bengal, TC-Congress combine bagged five of the 10 seats and was ahead of their Left rivals in three other constituencies.
Continuing with its impressive performance in the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress-led UDF retained all three assembly seats where bypolls were held, defeating ruling LDF.
In UP, ruling BSP candidates were leading in Powayan, Isauli, Hainsar Bazar, Etawah and Bharthana after six-seven rounds of counting, poll authorities said. All these seats were held by SP.
Congress and BJP won two seats each in Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, while in Assam, Congress wrested one seat from AGP.
In Kerala, the LDF suffered a blow in the politically sensitive Kannur, where Congress candidate and former CPI-M MP AP Abdullakutty emerged victorious by a margin of 12,000 votes over MV Jayarajan of CPI(M).
Abdullakutty, who represented Kannur twice in the Lok Sabha on a CPI-M ticket, was expelled from the party a few months back following serious differences with the Left leadership, after which he joined the Congress.
Congress candidates Dominic Presentation trounced CPI-M's PN Sinulal in Ernakulam by over 8,000 votes, while his colleague AA Shukur retained Alappuzha seat by defeating G Krishaparasad of CPI by 4,000 votes.
The by-polls were necessitated by resignation of sitting Congress MLAs K Sudhakaran (Kannur), KV Thomas (Ernakulam) and KC Venugopal (Alappuzha) on getting elected to Lok Sabha.
The results showed that UDF had been able to repeat its Lok Sabha performance when it bagged 16 of the 20 seats in the state.
The current round of elections were seen as a dress rehearsal for the 2011 assembly polls to be preceded by the civic elections in Kerala next year. The outcome of today's bypoll will, however, not have any impact on the stability of the LDF government, which is entering its fourth year.
The Left Front, which had fielded candidates in all the 10 seats in West Bengal, was leading in only Goalpokhar constituency, a seat represented by Deepa Dasmunsi of Congress and wife of ailing former Union minister PR Dasmunsi. Deepa has entered the Lok Sabha.
TC candidates retained Alipore, Bongaon and Serampore and and wrested Rajganj seats from the CPI-M, while Congress retained Sujapur in West Bengal.
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