The opposition came out on top, albeit by a very narrow margin, which was seen as their most important test after the formation of the INDIA union. The parties belonging to the bloc won four out of seven seats in the Riigikogu held on Tuesday. While BJP candidates were elected from Dhanpur and Boxanagar assembly seats in Tripura and Bageswhar in Uttarakhand, the opposition bloc won Ghos in Uttar Pradesh, Dumri in Jharkhand, Puthuppally in Kerala and Dhupgur in West Bengal.
Dara Singh Chauhan, the session MLA from Ghosi constituency in Uttar Pradesh and a popular OBC leader, rejoined the BJP after quitting the Samajwadi Party in July. His resignation necessitated a by-election to the post, which Sudhakar Singh of the Samajwadi Party won by 42,759 votes. Chandy Oommen of the Congress-UDF alliance dealt a major blow to the ruling CPI(M) in the Puthuppally by-election in Kerala by over 36,000 votes. Oommen, son of late Congress supporter Oommen Chandy, got a solid lead in the first round and maintained his position till the counting of votes.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate Bebi Devi won the Dumri Assembly by-election in Giridih, Jharkhand, defeating All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) candidate Yashoda Devi by more than 17,000 votes. In West Bengal, two INDIAN bloc parties – the Congress and the CPI (M) – have come together to take on their ally Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the BJP-dominated Dhugpur constituency. However, TMC’s Nirmal Chandra Roy won and ensured Mamata Banerjee-led party control in the seat.
In Tripura, BJP’s Tafajjal Hossain won the Boxanagar seat, while Bindu Debnath won the tribal-dominated Dhanpur. In Bageswhar of Uttarakhand, Basant Kumar of the Congress party fell behind after an early lead over Parwati Dass of the BJP. Dass defeated Kumar by over 2,400 votes. The inquiry was conducted after the death of four-time MLA and cabinet minister Chandan Ram Das in April.
Out of the seven constituencies, Dhanpur, Dhugpuri and Bageshwar belonged to the BJP. Ghosi was held by the Samajwadi Party, while JMM held Jharkhand. Boxanagar of Tripura and Puthuppally of Kerala belonged to CPM and Congress respectively.
