AA Edit | Bypoll Boost for Telangana & Odisha CMs; Jolt to Omar
The recently held Assembly byelections offered a mixed bag to four chief ministers: While A. Revanth Reddy of Telangana and Mohan Charan Majhi of Odisha got a shot in their arms when their parties wrested seats from their opponents, it was a thoroughly embarrassing setback for Jammu and Kashmir’s Omar Abdullah who lost his own seat to the main rival. Rajasthan chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma also lost a sitting MLA but faces no immediate threat to his position.
The Hyderabad electorate’s general aversion to the Congress was evident in the 2023 Assembly elections when the party was rejected outright, failing to win a single seat out of 30-odd in the capital region. But two years down the line, the urban voters showed their willingness to give Mr Reddy a chance to pursue his vision of making Hyderabad a global city.
He led the party to a landslide victory in the Jubilee Hills assembly constituency bypoll, second only to Secunderabad Cantonment last year. In both cases, the Congress wrested the seats from the principal Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi, and in both cases, the sympathy factor did not work, though BRS fielded the kin of deceased incumbents.
The win is very essential for Mr Reddy as the Opposition made two of his major initiatives — rejuvenation of the Musi river and clearing encroachments on lakes and government lands through specialised agency Hydraa — poll issues. With the mandate, the chief minister emerged stronger and consolidated his position within the party and across the state administration.
However, the party’s electoral fortunes in the next general elections will depend on how effectively Mr Reddy develops the area between Outer Ring Road and the proposed Regional Ring Road that have great potential to make Hyderabad a global destination and improves civic standards in the existing capital area with the income generated from his ambitious projects.
The Congress wresting the Anta Assembly seat from the BJP in Rajasthan and the PDP winning in J&K’s Budgam which belonged to the National Conference are sure to embarrass the ruling parties. It is more so for Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah as he had vacated the seat which his party has not lost since 1972. The rebellious voices in the NC could get shriller now. Meanwhile, the BJP retaining the Nagrota seat has offered only status quo to the saffron party.
The BJP’s record-breaking win in Nuapada byelection to the Odisha Assembly is significant for all the three-players — the ruling BJP, the Opposition BJD and the Congress. That the BJP candidate was the son of a BJD legislator whose death necessitated the bypoll can be attributed as one of the reasons for the margin of 83,748 votes but the wresting of seats comes as a reassurance to the state leadership of the party. The Congress, which came second pushing the BJD to third position may have raised allegations of cash-for-votes, but it can feel relieved that it is back in the political game in the state. The BJD will now face some existential issues since the personal interest its supremo Naveen Patnaik took in the election has not paid off.
The bypolls in Tarn Taran in Punjab, Ghatshila in Jharkhand and Dampa in Manipur resulted in status quo where Aam Aadmi Party, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Mizo National Front, respectively, retained their seats.