NEW DELHI: In a major psychological boost to its beleaguered leadership, the Congress(I) has managed to hold on its own in the assembly by-election.
The party, which split earlier this month with the breakaway faction charging the leadership of Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, with purse electorally disastrous verily communal’ policies, has bagged nine seats out of the 19 results which were available.
Is successful candidates include, A.K, Antony, chief minister of Kerala, who won the Tirungadi by-election, defeating his nearest CPI(M) rival. Another chief minister belonging to the party, J.B, Patnaik, was heading for a comfortable victory at Begunia in Orissa, Patnaik had established a lead of over 8,000 votes over his nearest rival at the end of third round of counting.
Other places where the party, which is yet to recover from the impact of the String of defeats it had to face over past seven months, include Saraipali and Khairagarh, Sulah and Kinnaur in the party ruled states of Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, The party has also won rat Bayana in Rajasthan, Lamshang in Manipur and Tekon in Nagaland.
The victory of the party in both the by elections in Madhya Pradesh, homes tale of the rebel leader, Arjun Singh, must be particularly satisfying for the prime minister and his colleagues. The party’s feat has been made possible independently of Singh, who was considered to be architect of its success in the assembly elections two years back, The victory of the party in both the by elections in the party ruled state of Himachal Pradesh shows that it is not having to face an antiestablishment sentiment yet.
These glad tidings notwithstanding, the blank drawn by the party at Utiar Pradesh and Bihar have once’ again brought out, in bold relief the decline of the party in the two politically crucial states, The party has also lost the Yelahanke scat in Kamataka and Bhimavaram and Tekalli in Andhra Pradesh to the Janata Dal. Though it has won the Dindori seat in Maharashtra, its inability to tum the tide in the two southern states has made it clear that it will have difficulty in retaining the Lok ‘Sabha seats that it had won from there the last election.
The party had also to concede stronghold of Ranswara in Rajasthan to the BJP, though its success al Bayana in the Slate has come as a consolation, Bhilwara, the third seat at stake in Rajasthan, has also gone to the BIP. However, the BP’s success in Rajasthan pales into insignificance in light of the party’s poor performance in Uttar Pradesh where all the four seats, Sita Bazar have been bagged by Samajwadi Party, despite strats in alliance with the BSP, In Bihar, the JD continued its winning spree by gaining at both Gopalganj and Chatra.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 2, 1995
