Assembly bypoll result: Rahul Gandhi says web of 'fear and confusion' woven by BJP broken; saffron party alleges rigging

In a landslide victory in the Assembly by-polls, the INDIA block on Saturday bagged 10 out of 13 seats that went to polling across seven states, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faced a major setback and managed to win only two seats.

It is important to note that the majority of the Assembly by-polls were held in opposition-ruled states like West Bengal (4), Himachal Pradesh (3), Punjab (1), and Tamil Nadu (1), besides NDA-governed Uttarakhand (2), Madhya Pradesh (1), and Bihar (1).

The INDIA bloc not only clinched the seats in West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil, and Punjab, where they are in power but also defeated the BJP candidates in Uttarakhand, where the saffron party is ruling. However, Ashish Sharma of the BJP managed to win the Hamirpur seat in Himachal Pradesh.

Taking to microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter), former Congress president and Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi posted in Hindi, "The results of the by-elections in 7 states have made it clear that the web of 'fear and confusion' woven by the BJP has been broken."

"Every class including farmers, youth, labourers, businessmen and employed people want to completely destroy dictatorship and establish the rule of justice. The public is now completely standing with INDIA for the betterment of their lives and protection of the Constitution. Jai Hindustan, Jai Samvidhaan (Constitution)," he added.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the BJP will continue to lose in all the upcoming elections.

"This is a trendwhich began with the Lok Sabha elections and is moving forward. BJP will continue losing all the upcoming elections," news agency ANI quoted Khera as saying.

BJP alleges rigging in Bengal

Meanwhile, the BJP has alleged that the Assembly by-polls in West Bengal were completely rigged.

Taking to X, Amit Malviya—BJP media in charge—alleged that the Assembly bypolls in West Bengal were completely rigged. He posted, “Bengal (4) - The elections were completely rigged. There was no semblance of a free and fair poll. In some seats, Congress contested against the TMC. Does it look like I.N.D.I Alliance's win or TMC intimidating voters and abusing the state machinery? The TMC, short of decent candidates, had to field former BJP MLAs on two of the four seats.”

The BJP media in-charge further said that in Himachal Pradesh, where the Congress is in power, the by-elections were held on three seats. But the BJP won Hamirpur. The grand old party should be disappointed that it couldn't win all three despite being in power.

In Uttarakhand’s Badrinath, the Congress has retained the seat. The election was necessitated because the Congress MLA defected. What is there to celebrate in this? He added that the Congress candidate Qazi Mohammad Nizamuddin won the Manglaur seat due to demographic change.

In Tamil Nadu and Punjab, the ruling party clinched the seats. Did DMK expect to lose? He asked.

He further said the Assembly by-polls results show nothing except INDI Alliance's desperation to somehow feel good.