BJP's Bankipur bypoll defeat is just the beginning: Priyanka Gandhi

Priyanka Gandhi hailed BJP's loss in Bihar's Bankipur bypoll as a 'beginning', claiming people are fed up. While the BJP plans to 'introspect', Congress also won in MP's Datia. BJP's sole win was in Gujarat with a reduced majority.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi on Tuesday said that the defeat of the BJP in the Bankipur bypoll in Bihar is just the "beginning" and that the people are now "fed up" with the ruling party "It is clear that people are now fed up with the BJP. They are understanding what is happening in the country, and I think this is the beginning," Priyanka Gandhi told reporters here.

The Congress MP was asked about the results of the recent bypolls in Patna and Madhya Pradesh. Responding to a question on the impact of the Bankipur bypoll results on the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections scheduled to take place in 2027, she said, "We will see what will happen".

BJP to 'introspect' results

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party BJP chief Nitin Nabin said that the party will "introspect" and review the results of Bankipur and Datia. "We accept the mandate received in today's three assembly by-elections. We express our heartfelt gratitude to the people of Manjalpur assembly constituency in Gujarat for expressing their faith in the Bharatiya Janata Party. We extend our warm congratulations to all the dedicated workers and office-bearers of the BJP for this victory," he posted on his social media platform X on Monday.

Setback in Hindi Heartland, Consolation in Gujarat

Jan Suraaj Party president Prashant Kishore had defeated BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar by a margin of 19324 votes, as per the Election Commission of India. The BJP's loss that comes close on the heels of intense youth-led protests over exam paper leaks and rising unemployment, signals a shifting political wind across the Hindi heartland, exposing vulnerable fault lines in the BJP's traditional strongholds.

Simultaneously, in Madhya Pradesh's Datia, the Congress retained the key seat after defeating the BJP by over 6,000 votes. The BJP's sole consolation came from Gujarat, where it retained the Manjalpur seat in Vadodara, albeit with a drastically reduced victory margin compared to the 2022 elections.

BJP retained the seat, with Satish Patel beating Congress's Bhikhabhai Rabari by 30,630 votes. But that margin is a steep fall from the 1,00,754-vote landslide the party won there in the 2022 assembly election.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)