A resounding defeat in the Hisar Lok Sabha bypoll and losses in all three Assembly constituencies in four states came as a severe setback to the beleaguered UPA and the Congress today. While the defeat of Congress candidate Jai Prakash in Hisar was a foregone conclusion,losses in Andhra Pradesh,Maharashtra (of its ally,the NCP) and Bihar signalled the partys continuing downslide. The party put up a brave face arguing that it did not have any of these seats earlier but the writing was clear on the wall. Its candidate in Hisar,Jai Prakash,came third,losing his security deposit. He got around 1.50 lakh votes,which was 54,000 less than what he had got in the 2009 Lok Sabha election in which he had also come third. Incidentally,Sampat Singh,who had secured 2.41 lakh votes as INLD candidate in 2009 general election,had joined the Congress later but obviously could not bring the supporters along. Congress general secretary in charge of Haryana B K Hari Prasad,however,sought to downplay the partys dismal show in Hisar saying that it was not unexpected as it had lost the seat in 2009,too. He rejected the contention that the result had anything to do with Team Annas campaign against the Congress candidate. Hari Prasad said that the sympathy factor following the demise of Bhajan Lal,who represented the constituency,also played a role. The partys loss in elections is always a sad thing. And we shall have to analyse why we have lost. But just now it is not possible for me to make an instant comment, said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) candidate Pocharam Srinivasa Reddy won the Banswada Assembly bypoll by defeating Congress candidate Srinivas Goud by a margin of around 50,000 votes. The bypoll had been necessitated by the resignation of Pocharam who had quit his Assembly membership and also the membership of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on the issue of statehood for Telangana. The huge margin of victory of the TRS candidate came when the Centre is grappling with this issue. Congress MP from Nizamabad Madhu Goud Yaskhi said that the results indicated popular support for the Telangana movement. Banswada constituency has the maximum number of settlers from Andhra regions who constitute about 35 to 40 per cent of the electorate. Therefore,you could have expected the least sentiment for Telangana in this Assembly constituency. The results have proved otherwise, he told The Indian Express. Incidentally,the Congress tally here dropped by over 10,000 votes from last time. The loss of the NCP candidate in the Khadakvasla Assembly bypoll in Maharashtra could have a bearing on Congress-NCP alliance in the elections for Municipal Corporations and Zilla Parishads later this year. NCP sources said that while it would like to contest in alliance with the Congress in these elections,the latter already appeared to be having second thoughts about it. The bypoll result is a shot in the arm for the Opposition BJP whose candidate Bhimrao Tapkir defeated NCP candidate Harshada Wanjale. The election had been necessitated by the death of MNS legislator Ramesh Wanjale whose wife Harshada contested as NCP candidate. The Khadakwasla bypoll was a prestige issue for the NCP as it fell in Supriya Sules Baramati Lok Sabha constituency. Also,Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar was said to be instrumental in roping in Ramesh Wanjales widow Harshada into the NCP fold to contest the election,but the sympathy factor did not work even though the MNS had not fielded any candidate out of respect for Ramesh. The results for Daraunda Assembly bypoll showed the continuing decline of the Congress in Bihar. While the ruling JD(U) retained the seat defeating the RJD-LJP combine,the Congress candidate came third polling only 4,238 vote. JD(U) candidate Kavita Singh defeated her nearest RJD rival Parmeshwar Singh by 20,092 votes. Kavita,daughter in-law of former MLA late Jagmato Devi,polled 51,754 votes. The election was necessitated after the seat fell vacant due to the death of Jagmato Devi in June.
