Congress makes a comeback in by polls

New Delhi, Mar 21 (ANI): The Congress party made a comeback in Karnataka, Kerala and Gujarat on Wednesday as it won the recently conducted by polls by defeating their rivals.

The by polls which were held for Chikmagalur Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka, the Piravom and the Mansa assembly constituencies in Kerala and Gujarat, respectively, were captured by the Congress party.

Reacting to the by polls results, Union Corporate Affairs Minister Dr. M Veerappa Moily said it was a positive sign for the party as it has a bright future ahead.

"Absolutely a positive sign in a way because not that it is of the negative aspect as far as BJP is concerned. It's a very positive thing; Congress has a great future in Karnataka. We have a good foundation and we have to put our efforts together and if you do that the Congress will definitely win," said Moily.

"And that is what is going to come with this result. I think the countdown period for the BJP has come, I don't think they can retrieve it back," he added.

Similar outcome was witnessed in Kerala where Congress led United Democratic Front (UDF) defeated Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

Holding the victory as an important one, Indian Overseas Minister Vayalar Ravi said the victory will make the government more stable.

"The importance of the victory is that the government has become more stable, it is very-very debated election because the UDF government was running with only two MLA's majority out of which, one has died. The trend of the people in Kerala is pro UDF now," said Indian Overseas Minister Vayalar Ravi.

BJP leaders, however, seemed unaffected by the results, as they believed that these by polls were not of much significance.

"I think the by polls that have in conducted in Gujarat in the last five years the BJP have secured the support of the public and it was a difficult place for BJP to establish itself. And last year we won this seat with mere 2500 votes, so we just cannot consider this to be symbolic of BJP's defeat," said BJP leader Balbir Punj.

The Congress party also overpowered BJP in the by polls conducted in Gujarat.

BJP lost the important seat of Mansa, which was their strong bastion in the last four elections.

Though, Congress had to suffer humiliation at the hands of Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) in Andhra Pradesh, where six out seven seats were located in Telangana region of the state. TRS won four seats in the by polls, while BJP and an independent candidate won one seat each as the seventh and the last one going to Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSR Congress.

In Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa-led All India Anna Darvida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIDMK) on Wednesday retained the Sankarankoil (SC) Assembly constituency, with party nominee S Muthuselvi defeating DMK candidate Jawahar Suryakumar by a massive margin of 68,744 votes.

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) emerged victorious in Athgarh assembly bypoll in Odisha. (ANI)