Sunday, May 25, 2008

BJP Chief Minister candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa

BJP Chief Minister candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa, coming to the BJP office, after the Karnataka Assembly poll results were declared, in Bangalore on Sunday. Photo: K. Murali Kumar. Photo Gallery

Congress bites dust in Lok Sabha by-elections

New Delhi (PTI): In a replay of Karnataka results, the Congress on Sunday tasted defeats in by-elections to three Lok Sabha constituencies in as many states even as it retained two assembly seats in Haryana.

Posting thumping wins, saffron parties BJP and Shiv Sena retained Hamirpur and Thane Parliamentary seats in Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra respectively.
NCP's Agatha K Sangma, daughter of nine-time MP and former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno Agitok Sangma, romped home from Tura Lok Sabha seat in Meghalaya.
Twentyseven-year-old Agatha, a Delhi-based lawyer, trounced Congress nominee Zenith Sangma by a huge margin of 99,855 votes.

Maintaining its winning streak in Himachal, the BJP retained the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat when its candidate Anurag Thakur, son of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, emerged triumphant by a record margin.

Anurag, HP Cricket Association President, trounced his nearest Congress rival O P Rattan by 1,74,666 votes.

Dhumal's son victory margin created a record eclipsing the one held by BJP's Suresh Chandel who had won the seat by 1.27 lakh votes in 1999.

Shiv Sena's candidate Anand Paranjpe humbled NCP's Sanjeev Naik, son of Maharashtra Minister Ganesh Naik, by 90,872 votes in the Thane Lok Sabha by-election.
Anand, son of Sena MP Prakash Paranjpe whose death necessitated the bypoll, polled 4,62,766 votes against Naik's 3,71,894.

In the three assembly by-elections in Haryana, the newly-floated Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) wrested the Adampur seat from Congress which retained Indri and Gohana.
The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab maintained its sway over the Amritsar South assembly seat winning it by a margin of over 22,OOO votes.

The Haryana Janhit Congress opened its account in the state assembly when former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal won the Adampur seat for a record 10th time.

Septuagenarian Lal, expelled from the Congress after he joined the Haryana Janhit Congress floated by his son Kuldeep Bishnoi last December, drubbed his nearest Congress rival Ranjit Singh by a margin of over 26,188 votes.

Lal had romped home from Adampur constituency for the first time in 1968 when mid-term elections were held in the state.

Except in 1987 when his wife Jasma Devi won the seat after he moved over to the Centre, the 78-year-old former Congress veteran had emerged triumphant from the seat ten times.
In two other assembly by-elections in the state, the Congress retained both Indri and Gohana seats.

The by-polls arose after the disqualification of three Congress members -- Bhajan Lal, Rakesh Kamboj and Dharampal Malik -- from the state assembly for joining the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL).

Both Kamboj and Malik, who tried their luck from Indri and Gohana seats respectively, bit the dust.

In the Indri assembly by-election, Congress nominee Bhim Sen Mehta defeated Rakesh Kamboj by a margin of 5,865 votes.

The Congress bagged the Gohana seat in Sonepat district with its candidate Jagbir Singh Malik humbling his nearest INLD rival K C Bangar by 22,162 votes.
In Punjab, the SAD retained the Amritsar South assembly seat when its candidate Inderbir Singh Bolaria trounced his nearest Congrees rival Navdeep Singh Goldy by a margin of 22, 233 votes.

The by-elections to three Lok Sabha and four assembly seats spread over five states were held on May 22. Source: The Hindu

BJP govt to assume office on May 28

Sunday, 25 May , 2008, 16:11Last Updated: Sunday, 25 May , 2008, 18:03

Bangalore: The first BJP government on its own in the south will be sworn-in on May 28 with the party almost getting a majority, party sources said in Bangalore.
B S Yeddyurappa will take oath as Chief Minister, the sources said but refused to share further details.
The party, on the verge of winning 111 seats, just two short of the magic figure 113 required for a simple majority, said it has the support of four independents out of the seven who are close to victories.