NEW DELHI: Last week’s by-elections in India indicated that the ruling Congress (I)’s popular base had been seriously eroded, the fundamentalist BJ.P. Succeeded in performing better although it is not the only opposition party challenging the Congress (I) supremacy.
The B.J_P. won five out of 16 Assembly and Lok Sabha seats of which the results became known by Sunday while the Congress (I) and the National Front came second with four seats each. The Congress (I) managed to retain the Jalandhar Lok Sabha scat which had been won by Yash on its behalf by a lead of 1.13 lakh over his rival in 1989. The party’s candidate Umrao Singh won the seat by a margin of 1.16 lakh over his nearest Akali Dal (Badal) rival.
A significant aspect of the by elections was the defeat of the ruling party in the home state of prime minister Rao, Andhra Pradesh, where the Janata Dal’s ally, Telugu Desam, won both the Assembly seats. The Congress (I) candidates had been chosen by the prime minister and the defeat is considered as a personal defeat for him.
In Haryana the Congress (I)’s candidate was the son of a dissident Shamsher Singh Surjewala, He was defeated by Samjawadi Janata Party’s Om Prakash Chautala, The chief minister Bhajan Lal was quick to interpret the result as the defeat of the dissidents and not of the Congress (I),
The BJP. won four out of five Seats in Gujaral which showed that the party is on the comeback trail in that state. The Congress (I) said the BLP. Won there because of communal polarization,
The Karnataka the Congress(I) won a seal by a mere 512-vote majority presumably due to the last minute diversion of Muslim voles away from the Janata Dal and in favor of the Congress(I) as they were dead sect against the B.J.P. It is interesting to note that the ruling party’s campaign managers had omitted from the party’s election literature the pictures of Narasimha Rao because he is perceived by Muslims as a Hindu fundamentalist, The Janata Dal in a highly significant performance won the Lok Sabha seat from Patna defeating the B.J.P, with a massive margin of more than 1 lakh votes, The ruling Congress (I) and the C.P.1. Were far behind. The seat was regarded by the C.P.I. as its stronghold but chief minister Lalu Prasad Yaday had earlier predicted that the real contest would be between the Janata Daland the B.J.P. which turned out to be a fact. Yaday had also said that this party would teach the BJP. A lesson at Patna, The Congress (I) and the C.P.I. Were trying hard to save security deposit, Janata Dal vice president Ram Vilas Paswan said his party had emerged as the winner in the by elections while Congress (I) and BJP. Had suffered heavily, a fact that had been overlooked by a majority of
Indian analysts, he said, B.J.P. leader Atal Behari Vajapayee claimed an anti Congress (I) wave in the country while C.P.(M) leader Harkishen Singh Surject said that the ruling party failed due to its inability to solve national problems. The Congress (I) spokesman V.N.Gadgil said that only the Jalandhar result reflected the “national mood” while the results of other seats were related to “local issues.”
Article extracted from this publication >> May 28, 1993
