Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Talks about Opposition unity ahead of the 2019 national polls got a leg up after the Congress and its allies scored over the BJP in the four Lok Sabha and 10 Assembly bypolls across the country.
The highlight of the day was the comeback of Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal, which had been wiped out from its strong hold western UP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The RLD had even refused to join the Congress-SP alliance for the 2017 UP Assembly polls. However, in the latest bypoll, RLD nominee in
Kairana Tabassum Hasan supported by the Congress, BSP and SP defeated the BJP candidate.
“The writing on the wall is clear. BJP’s exit and success of Congress and its allies is guaranteed. In Kairana, the mahagathbandhan’s success is evident,” Congress spokesperson Pramod Tiwari said.
In the Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra Congress ally NCP’s nominee defeated the BJP, paving the way for a 2019 pact, said party sources.
On its own, the Congress won Palus Kadegaon Assembly bypoll in Maharasahtra, Ampati in Meghalaya, Shahkot in Punjab and RR Nagar in Karnataka. Sources said the RR Nagar win proved the charges of tampering with voter ID cards wrong. Similarly, the Shahkot win proved the popularity of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and the Ampati win made Congress the single largest party in Meghalaya.
